Track Insight / Lyrics
His cab sits idling by the diner door
The engine coughs a low and steady growl
He checks the mirror like he did before
When harbor buoys would sing their lonely howl
Coffee steams in a chipped white ceramic cup
He stirs it slow with a plastic spoon
The radio spits static, fading up
Like foghorns swallowed by a rising moon
Meter running on a stalled out night
Meter running till the morning light
He holds the wheel but doesn't drive away
Just watches dawn turn black to gray
The waitress wipes a circle on the glass
She knows his order, knows he won't ask
His logbook lists each fare from first to last
A ledger kept for a completed task
Meter running on a stalled out night
Meter running till the morning light
He holds the wheel but doesn't drive away
Just watches dawn turn black to gray
The lamp room lens cuts sectors through the dark
A sweep, a pause, a steady guiding mark
But here no beam can cut the parking lot
Just vinyl tearing at a worn out spot
His hands are ropes, all knotted from the wheel
They hauled the chain when winter gales would peel
Now tremble soft on Formica, cold as steel
A different storm he cannot make to heal
The meter clicks a rhythm in the quiet
Each tick a mile he didn't get to drive
The lighthouse flashes once, a long white line
He sits until the morning shifts the sky
Meter running on a stalled out night
Meter running till the morning light
He holds the wheel but doesn't drive away
Just watches dawn turn black to gray
Meter stops, the engine sighs
He pays the check and rubs his eyes
