(Tempo: Laid-back, driving 4/4 shuffle) (Instrumentation: Muted electric guitar scratching, lazy bassline, subtle congas) (Verse 1) Low light burning in an empty room. Midnight shadows and a sense of doom. Looking for a spark to light the way. Trying to make it through another day. (Chorus) The road is long and the air is thin. Knowing exactly where the trouble begins. Walking down a dark and heavy lane. Thinking about the cost of cocaine. (Verse 2) A hollow promise in a tiny grain. Trying to numb a different kind of pain. The heart starts racing at a frantic pace. A tired look across a worried face. (Chorus) The road is long and the air is thin. Knowing exactly where the trouble begins. Walking down a dark and heavy lane. Thinking about the cost of cocaine. (Verse 3) The talk is fast but the words are empty. When the stakes are high, there isn't plenty. The mirror shows what the shadows hide. Nowhere left for a soul to slide. (Bridge) (Guitar solo: Clean tone, understated, fingerpicked blues licks) It pulls you in and it holds you tight. Leaves you searching in the middle of the night. The high is short but the fall is steep. A heavy secret for a man to keep. (Verse 4) The rhythm stutters as the lights go dim. The chance of making it is getting slim. Every stranger is a ghost you know. Waiting for the final whistle to blow. (Chorus) The road is long and the air is thin. Knowing exactly where the trouble begins. Walking down a dark and heavy lane. Thinking about the cost of cocaine. (Verse 5) The sun comes up on a grey skyline. Tracing the edge of a jagged line. The music fades and the silence grows. That’s just the way the story goes. (Outro) Yeah, the morning’s cold. The story’s getting old. End of the chain. Hard life, cocaine. (Fade out with a lazy guitar groove and a soft hi-hat hiss)
