Table for One

Shoo-wop… shoo-wop… Stay after closing tonight… Shoo-wop… shoo-wop… He likes the music low… There’s a booth in the corner nobody cleans Coffee still warm from 1953 Waitress says, “Honey, don’t sit there long…” But the jukebox played my father’s song Neon buzzin’ like flies in a jar Rain on chrome and abandoned cars Every night at quarter to two Somebody hums when nobody moves And the whole place sways… too slow… Like dead hearts trying to rock and roll… Sha-na-na… don’t turn around Something’s dancing when the lights go down Shoo-wop… hear those hungry teeth smile They’ve been waiting in the dark awhile Sha-na-na… cold little tune Everybody sings beneath the moon If he asks your name Don’t answer right away He keeps the ones who stay The cook’s got stitches all over his face Still says he’s worked here every day But the diner burned down years ago That’s what the old newspapers show Milkshake glass with a lipstick stain Tiny wet footprints in the rain And in the chrome I saw behind me A hundred mouths all humming softly Then the record slowed… real low… Like a funeral on the radio… Sha-na-na… don’t turn around Something’s dancing when the lights go down Shoo-wop… hear those hungry teeth smile They’ve been waiting in the dark awhile Sha-na-na… clap in time You can leave but they’ll still ride your mind If he asks you to sing You better know the words Or he’ll peel them from your nerves Table for one… forever… Table for one… forever… The jukebox opened like a jaw Rows of teeth behind the songs And every singer on the dial Was screaming underneath the vinyl Shoo-wop… shoo-wop… Stay after closing tonight… Shoo-wop… shoo-wop… He likes the music low… Everybody’s smiling now… Everybody’s humming now… Everybody stays… After closing…