Cardboard Moon

Instrumental Intro

Verse 1

That July the county fair lit up the field

Cheap fireworks popping over Miller's barn

Four of us on rusted bikes with busted chains

Joey swore the moon was ours to take

A cardboard giant glowing on a trailer bed

Twelve feet wide and humming like a trapped bee

We laughed so hard I nearly hit a fence

Danny said the cops would never catch us all

Chorus

We were young enough to think the town was ours

Four kids and a stolen moon in Danny's yard

Nobody told us nothing lasts too long

We were kings of every street we rode along

(The moon we stole, the moon we stole)

Hiding in the tall grass till the sirens passed

Post-Chorus

Oh-oh, oh-oh

Oh-oh, oh-oh

Verse 2

We hauled it down the blacktop past the quarry

Tailgate dragging sparks across the gravel

Sarah's hand found mine inside the truck bed

And I forgot the whole damn plan for her

Laughing loud to cover up the quiet part

Every joke a little softer than the last

Something in her voice was pulling slow away

I just held her fingers tighter in the dark

Chorus

We were stealing time like kids who'd never age

A girl and a moon and a highway made of dust

Tell me this night will never have to end

Tell me you'll remember where we've been

(The moon we stole, the moon we stole)

Swear it on the dashboard, swear it on the glass

Post-Chorus

Oh-oh, oh-oh

Oh-oh, oh-oh

Verse 3

Then Danny stopped the truck beside the water

Said his father got a job three states away

Nobody spoke the engine ticking low

Joey punched the door and walked into the trees

I wanted somebody to blame but there was no one

Just four kids learning how a thing can break

The moon sat in the bed and glowed at nothing

And Sarah wouldn't look at me at all

Chorus

We were holding something fragile in our hands

A friendship and a moon we couldn't keep

Don't tell me that it's over, not tonight

Don't tell me that the morning has to come

(The moon we stole, the moon we stole)

Four shadows on a road that's running out

Post-Chorus

Oh-oh, oh-oh

Oh-oh, oh-oh

Bridge

Years turn over like an engine

(Like an engine)

Some nights I still hear that hum

(Still hear that hum)

Joey's gone and Danny never called

But I remember everyone

Verse 4

Found a photograph in Sarah's old shoebox

Four kids squinting in a headlight glare

That cardboard moon behind us half-ripped and leaning

God we looked so reckless and so sure

She's got a daughter now who rides a red bike

And I don't know if Danny's doing fine

But I keep that picture where I keep my money

Proof I once belonged to something wild

Chorus

We were young enough to steal a little light

And foolish enough to think it wouldn't fade

The moon we stole is somewhere in my chest

Glowing like it never had to rest

(The moon we stole, the moon we stole)

Four kids forever riding through the dark

Outro

(The moon we stole)

(The moon we stole)

Oh-oh, oh-oh

Oh-oh