Rain slicks the cobblestones near midnight fare
My meter ticks slow in the halogen glare
A compass spins loose on the cracked dashboard glass
Needle drinks neon as the night hours pass
Passenger paid in chits and a wet cigarette
Said the district lines shift before the sun is set
I watched his coat vanish down a steam-vent alley
My knuckles stay white on the wheel through the valley
North don't live here where the towers lean
Street signs lie where the mag-levs scream
But this bent brass rose still catches the glow
Pointing home through the sodium snow
Thirty years driving these veins of chrome
Seen the corp wars bloom and the runners roam
Fixed the carburetor with wire and prayer
Kept her running on grit and recycled air
North don't live here where the towers lean
Street signs lie where the mag-levs scream
But this bent brass rose still catches the glow
Pointing home through the sodium snow
Dispatch crackles static on the CB band
Another runner needs a quiet hand
The compass needle shivers at the magnetic pull
My tires bite deep where the asphalt is dull
Fare four-oh-three waits at the rain-slick corner
She counts out credsticks like a prayer for a mourner
She pays double for the blind route east
Where the enforcement drones don't feast
Dawn bleeds amber through the smog layer
Compass settles steady as a prayer
The neon dims but the needle stays true
One more mile and I'm done with you
North don't live here where the towers lean
Street signs lie where the mag-levs scream
But this bent brass rose still catches the glow
Pointing home through the sodium snow
Pointing home through the sodium snow
Engine sighs cool in the morning hush
Compass points true in the driver's clutch
