Lyrics
[Verse 1] Coins keep clattering into the slot
Checking the shadows by the glass door
This payphone is sticky and smells like a rainy day
Tell French 75 I can't find the numbers anymore
I cannot remember the codespeak
Lost in the dialing tone
[Pre-Chorus] Comrade Josh is pacing by the drain
Running his mouth like a busted faucet
He’s getting on my last nerve
Thinking we can outrun the morning
Searching for the track
Through the dirt
[Chorus] The Gringo Zapata is riding high
He moves where the ghosts all go
Sliding down the Billy Goat’s underground rail
Nobody bats an eyelash as he passes through the turnstiles
There are no hands on the clock
There is only the long way home
[Verse 2] The Rocketman is holding the line tonight
Chasing a signal through the wires
Whatever it takes to pull her from the mouth of Lockjaw
She needs to hear the secret that the heavy winds know
Her mother is still alive
Waiting for the dawn
[Pre-Chorus] Comrade Josh is leaning on the brick
Wasting our time with his bitter worries
He’s getting on my last nerve
They can bring out the voltage to tase my skin
But they won't stop the heart
Of a desperate man
[Chorus] The Gringo Zapata is riding high
He moves where the ghosts all go
Sliding down the Billy Goat’s underground rail
Nobody bats an eyelash as he passes through the turnstiles
There are no hands on the clock
There is only the long way home
[Guitar Solo] [Verse 3] The copper barrels are cooling in the rain
Down where the tunnels hit the river
One last dime for a man with a ghost in his throat
Tell French 75 that I finally delivered
Josh is sleeping against the tile
While I watch the tunnel mouth
[Pre-Chorus] They’re bringing the thunder and the electric wire
To pull the Gringo back from the brink
But the Rocketman doesn't flinch or stall
When the world has started to sink
Through the cracks in the street
Finding the truth
[Chorus] The Gringo Zapata is riding high
He moves where the ghosts all go
Sliding down the Billy Goat’s underground rail
Nobody bats an eyelash as he passes through the turnstiles
There are no hands on the clock
There is only the long way home
[Outro] The mother is waiting
Tell the daughter she’s free
No hands on the clock
Long way home
(Gringo Zapata)
Sliding down the rail
(Long way home)
The signal is clear
(The Rocketman fights)
Underground
No hands on the clock
The long way home
The long way home
The long way home [Fade Out]