[Verse 1] I heard another midnight singer Pour his heart into the feed Same old room, same broken window Same old hunger, same old need He sang about a love that left him Sang about the empty chair But every line was dressed for thunder Like a sermon in despair [Verse 2] There was rain on every rooftop There were shadows on the wall There were angels losing patience There were devils in the hall And somewhere underneath the velvet Under all that candle smoke Was a lonely human heartbeat Trying hard not to choke [Chorus] But the blues don’t beg And the blues don’t crawl It leans in the doorway And tells it all No crown of sorrow No courtroom light Just a plain old truth Walking through the night The blues don’t preach The blues don’t blame It doesn’t need thunder To say your name [Verse 3] I don’t mock the ones who tremble I have known that kind of floor Where your pride sleeps in the corner And your hope waits by the door But pain can turn into a mirror Polished bright for all to see Till the wound becomes the singer And the song forgets to breathe [Verse 4] You say you’re looking for affection For a hand, a home, a flame But you wrap it up in mourning Till nobody hears the name Maybe love is not a witness In the back row of the show Maybe love is just the courage To speak softly and go slow [Chorus] And the blues don’t beg And the blues don’t crawl It leans in the doorway And tells it all No golden tear No holy scar Just a man at night With an old guitar The blues don’t flatter The blues don’t kneel It simply describes What the heart won’t heal [Bridge] There ain’t no shame in being lonely Ain’t no crime in needing grace But don’t build a palace out of sadness Then complain about the space If she matters, write her gently If he matters, say it clean Don’t drown the living in your weather Just to prove where you have been [Verse 5] So I listen and I wonder While the blue notes cross the wire How much longing dies in costume How much truth gets lost in fire And I think the old blues knew it Better than our glowing screens You can sing the whole world open With a whisper in between [Final Chorus] Cause the blues don’t beg And the blues don’t crawl It leans in the doorway And tells it all No judge above you No shame below Just the thing you feel And the thing you know The blues don’t wound And the blues don’t plead It gives no orders It plants one seed And if your conscience Wakes up slow That ain’t the singer’s hand That’s your own soul [Outro] So sing it low And leave it plain A little dust A little rain No velvet wound No painted chain Just dignity Inside the pain
