Track Insight / Lyrics
You come down the rusted stairs
With the welding sparks still in your hair
Blue denim jacket, collar high
Watching that quartet testify
The bandstand glows like a furnace door
You been burning all day, now you want some more
Blue denim light on the basement wall
You keep your watch through the alcohol
Blue denim light, let the horn line call
You ain't dancing, you're standing tall
The piano man has crooked teeth
He plays the low notes underneath
Your coffee cup rings on the bar
You count the streetlamps from afar
The upright bass is walking slow
You let the minor changes go
Blue denim light on the basement wall
You keep your watch through the alcohol
Blue denim light, let the horn line call
You ain't dancing, you're standing tall
A trumpet player with a broken lip
Holds the melody and lets it slip
You think of hulls and harbor storms
And how a body keeps its warmth
Blue denim light on the basement wall
You keep your watch through the alcohol
Blue denim light, let the horn line call
You ain't dancing, you're standing tall
The drummer uses brushes soft
A ceiling fan spins slow aloft
You know the tide, you know the flame
You know the sound of your own name
Blue denim light on the basement wall
You keep your watch through the alcohol
Blue denim light, let the horn line call
You ain't dancing, you're standing tall
Last set ends at half past two
The band packs up the worn-out blue
You climb the stairs to meet the cold
Another watch, another hold
Blue denim light on the basement wall
You kept your watch through the alcohol
Blue denim light, let the horn line call
You ain't dancing, you're standing tall
You're standing tall
Blue denim light
Keep the watch tonight