[Intro: muted trumpet, brushed snare, low strings swell] Ten past eleven, platform four The conductor nods like he's seen me before [Verse 1] Once a month I take the night train from Paris to your door Cabin nine, the lower berth, the rattle in the floor I fold my coat into a pillow and I set my shoes in line A couple in the corridor is toasting me with paper cups of wine Strasbourg at a quarter past, Karlsruhe in the rain Munich when the bakers start, then Salzburg on the pane I count the cities on the window like a child is counting sheep Two years of riding toward you, and I've never learned to sleep [Chorus] Sleeper car, sleeper car, rocking through the dark Half my life's a timetable and the other half's your arms Twenty four return tickets in a shoebox by my bed Sleeper car, carry me home, I just don't know which home yet [Verse 2] Every ride I learn ten words to say to your mother Bread and window, sorry, thank you, rain, and little brother You missed my thirtieth and sang it down the phone at Gare de l'Est I missed your father's surgery, you kept me on the call against your chest Two toothbrushes in two cities and a coat in either hall A calendar of second Fridays circled red along the wall You never asked me once to stay and I never asked you to choose We held it like a glass of wine on a train, with everything to lose [Chorus] Sleeper car, sleeper car, rocking through the dark Half my life's a timetable and the other half's your arms Twenty four return tickets in a shoebox by my bed Sleeper car, carry me home, I just don't know which home yet [Instrumental: muted trumpet solo over walking bass and strings] [Bridge: strings rise, brushes keep the swing] Linz at four, the platform lights are blue The conductor reads one way and tips his cap like he knew He says madame, the dining car has coffee if you're up And I drink it like a toast to every Sunday I gave up [Verse 3: hushed, close] Vienna and the morning and the steam is rising slow You're standing where you always stand with flowers and a coffee to go You see the second suitcase and you lift it, it's not light And the flowers hit the platform and you hold me way too tight I gave notice in October and I didn't tell a soul I wanted you to read it in the handle and the hold Two years of half a life and every half was worth the fare But I'm tired of being halfway, so I'm all the way there [Final Chorus: full strings, warm and swinging] Sleeper car, sleeper car, rocking through the dark Half my life was a timetable and now it's all your arms Twenty four return tickets and tonight I bought just one Sleeper car, carry me home, and now I know which one [Outro: muted trumpet, brushes fade] Ten past eleven, platform four I won't be on it anymore
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