[Intro] [analog synth pad swell, distant highway wind, tape hiss] [Verse 1] [soft male vocal, restrained, palm-muted guitar] There's an exit past the county line that don't show up on maps Just a busted guardrail and a hole between the gaps I set my dashboard clock a minute slow to get it right Then I ride that yellow line out to the middle of the night The radio goes static about a half a mile before And the sodium lights start flickering like they know who's at the door Three o'clock exactly and the town bleeds through the fog Neon on the motel and a porch light and a dog [Pre-Chorus] [building, drums enter, gated reverb] Sixty seconds on the meter, that's the only deal they give One long minute in the only place you still get to live I count it on my knuckles while the engine's running hot 'Cause the ones who linger too long never make it off the lot [Chorus] [full band, soaring, layered vocals] Exit Thirteen, three A.M., the whole town's wide awake Full of everybody's someone that the highway had to take I get sixty ticking seconds and a hand I get to hold Then the minute closes up on me and the road goes cold [Verse 2] [pull back, bass and arpeggiated synth] There's a trucker in the corner booth who's been here since eighty-nine Still telling folks his rig went sideways on the county line There's a kid out on the bleachers in a jersey and a grin Waiting on a bus of teammates that ain't never coming in And you're behind the counter with a rag and half a smile Same green dress, same barrettes, like you've only been a while You ask me how the dog is, and you ask about the rain But you never ask the only thing I drove out here to explain [Pre-Chorus] [rising tension] Sixty seconds on the meter and I'm down to twenty-three You're the same as that last morning — it's the years that got to me You tell me I should go now, that the car is running still But every night I love you more and every night I will [Chorus] [full band, soaring, layered vocals] Exit Thirteen, three A.M., the whole town's wide awake Full of everybody's someone that the highway had to take I get sixty ticking seconds and a hand I get to hold Then the minute closes up on me and the road goes cold [Bridge] [drop to synth and vocal, half-time, intimate] So I killed the engine and I let the headlights die Left the driver's door wide open and I never said goodbye The minute hand is climbing and I'm walking toward the door Let the highway keep the car — I don't need it anymore [Guitar Solo] [melodic, reverb-drenched, bending notes] [Final Chorus] [huge, all instruments, doubled vocal, cathartic] Exit Thirteen, three A.M., the whole town's wide awake And there's one more of somebody that the highway had to take I traded every morning for a hand I get to hold Let the clock roll over one last time — let the road go cold [Outro] [strip to synth pad and single guitar, fading] Somewhere past the guardrail where the county line runs thin There's a car with both doors open and the keys still in And a town that no one's heard of with the neon burning on And one more shadow in the window by the time the dark is gone [End] [long reverb tail, tape stop, highway wind]
