the late night city bus v2

Intro

Mm

Rain on the window

Mm-hmm

Verse 1

Orange streetlight bleeding through the pane

I count the empty seats again

Farebox ticking like a slow machine

On this late-night 42

City dripping past the glass like gold

A whole part of town I've never known

I keep my headphones loose so I can hear

The quiet hum of strangers near

Chorus

Everyone rides in the dark

Carrying something they won't say out loud

Everyone's a light on its way

Through the wet and the weary town

And I'm just passing through

Watching the night go round

Verse 2

Back door hisses and a man climbs in

Work shirt damp at the collar lines

He reads his phone like a letter from home

Then stares at nothing at all

His knuckles tight and his shoulders low

Lunch was hours and hours ago

He dreams of a couch and a kitchen light

Somebody waiting up tonight

Chorus

Everyone rides in the dark

Carrying something they won't say out loud

Everyone's a light on its way

Through the wet and the weary town

And I'm just passing through

Watching the night go round

Instrumental

Saxophone phrase

Guitar delays

Verse 3

She drops her token a seat too late

He reaches down before she can wait

Their hands almost touch on the metal floor

Then neither looks again

Behind the glass the rain makes lace

She smiles once into a private space

A gentleness with no name at all

Two people briefly standing tall

Chorus

Everyone rides in the dark

Carrying something they won't say out loud

Everyone's a light on its way

Through the wet and the weary town

And I'm just passing through

Watching the night go round

Bridge

And the brake lights pool in red below

And the driver hums a tune I think I know

We're all just pages turning slow

In a book nobody gets to show

Verse 4

And I look down at my own two hands

The story that I never planned

Buried in the pocket of my coat

Like everyone else on this ride

The fare's the same for every soul

The doors close and the city rolls

We don't know each other's names

Just the turning of their frames

Chorus

Everyone rides in the dark

Carrying something they won't say out loud

Everyone's a light on its way

Through the wet and the weary town

And I'm just passing through

Watching the night go round

Outro

Mm

Passing through

Mm-hmm

The night goes round

Mm