Neon Tears on a Two-Lane Road [Intro] [A clean, reverb-soaked Telecaster picks out a lonely pattern. A baritone guitar rumbles beneath like distant thunder. Pedal steel sighs. Two bars in, a modern kick-snare pattern and upright bass lock into a slow, confident shuffle.] [Verse 1] The marquee's burned out at the Starlite Inn, where the gravel's deep and the hope is thin. I've got a pocket full of quarters and a Chevrolet, that's been runnin' on fumes and yesterday. There's a woman in Fresno who wears my ring, but she don't wear my name, and she don't wear a thing. That reminds her of me or the life we had, before the good times all turned bad. [Verse 2] I tend bar nights at the Broken Spoke, pourin' whiskey sours for lonely folk. They tell me their troubles, I tell 'em mine, we trade our ghosts for a glass of wine. There's a jukebox playin' "Act Naturally," and it sounds like a joke the world's playin' on me. 'Cause I'm actin' like a man who's got it made, while I'm drownin' in the bed that I made. [Chorus 1] Neon tears on a two-lane road, headlights cuttin' through a heavy load. Of regrets and dreams and used-to-be's, and a heart that's runnin' on empty. Every exit sign says "Turn around," but I'm too far gone, and I'm too far down. This highway's got a memory of its own, and it won't leave a drifter alone. Neon tears on a two-lane road. [Verse 3] I called my brother down in San Antone, said "I'm comin' home, but I ain't stayin' long." He said "The door's unlocked, but the well is dry, and Mama's been askin' 'bout you, I won't lie." I hung up the phone 'fore he heard me cry, watched a semi-truck haul a load of plywood by. And I wondered what a man's supposed to do, when the only home he knows ain't home to you. [Chorus 2] Neon tears on a two-lane road, headlights cuttin' through a heavy load. Of regrets and dreams and used-to-be's, and a heart that's runnin' on empty. Every exit sign says "Turn around," but I'm too far gone, and I'm too far down. This highway's got a memory of its own, and it won't leave a drifter alone. Neon tears on a two-lane road. [Bridge] There's a chapel by the county line, with a bell that rings and a "CLOSED" sign. I stopped there once, in a different life, when the world was kind and I loved my wife. Now the paint's all peeled and the steps are cracked, and the preacher's gone, and he ain't comin' back. But I still hear that bell in the evenin' air, ringin' out for the ones who care. [Outro] [The modern rhythm section drops away. The baritone guitar holds a low, mournful note. Pedal steel weeps alone.] Neon tears... [A single Telecaster bends a note that hangs in the air.] On a two-lane road... [The baritone fades. The sound of rain on a windshield. Silence.]
