[Intro] [Verse 1] Three a.m., the tank was empty One lit store along the road Clerk was mopping by the counter Held the door against the cold I went back to get some water Heard the lock click into place Then I saw the faded flyer And the photograph of his face [Pre-Chorus] Missing since November Nineteen eighty-three I looked up toward the counter He was looking back at me [Transition] [Break] I ran straight toward the doorway But the chain held fast and tight Then the clerk said, “Let it ring.” And the phone beside him cried [Verse 2] It was my voice on the receiver Saying, “Found another door. Come on back behind the coolers.” Then a scratch dragged down the floor Then my mother called from aisle six In her voice from years ago “Come here, baby, help me find it.” But I’d left her safe at home [Pre-Chorus] I could hear her bracelets I could smell her hand cream, too The clerk gripped my wrist and whispered “It gets better when it knows you.” [Chorus] Thank you, come again Thank you, come again Said the speaker overhead The OPEN sign went dark But the EXIT sign glowed red The woman in my car turned And her face was just like mine Then it darkened in the headlights Though no shadow crossed the light [Verse 3] He said, “I came in for cigarettes. The man here said he’d shut. Asked me just to watch the counter While he pulled his pickup up.” He laid his name tag on the register Slid the cigarettes away “When somebody takes your place here You can leave before the day.” [Bridge — almost spoken] Then headlights swept the windows And a girl stepped from a van He reached out for the door lock And I caught his trembling hand She was barely more than twenty She was rubbing sleep away I shouted, “No, keep driving!” He said, “Please. Please let me.” [Break — silence, then the door chime] [Verse 4] She never heard me through the glass He opened up the door I caught his sleeve—he pulled away And knocked me to the floor She bent down to help me And knocked me to the floor She bent down to help me He ran out into the rain The speaker crackled softly “We only need one to remain.” [Final Chorus] Thank you, come again Said the speaker overhead She helped me up and asked me If I’d hit my head Then his missing-person poster Had her picture in his place She said, “That’s me—but how’d they get it?” With the color leaving her face [Outro — whispered] The girl said, “What’s that ringing?” I said, “Leave the phone alone.” Then she reached behind the counter. “It’s my little boy. He’s home.”
