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Streetlights Lyrics
Where's that angel with dirty knees who wasn't hard to please when we first met?
She don't act like she needs me now and she don't even seem to be upset.
Maybe I cover too much ground, I've been from town to town since I grew up.
Could my dreams take up too much space? I'll never find a place that's big enough.
The chairs go up on the bar now, and the table lights go black,
So I order one last double and start calling people back.
Marc sounds good, he's been working hard. Couldn't punch a card to save his life.
Says he's glad that he quit the road, he says he's getting old, he missed his wife.
Little Em's been asleep since nine, I'm sure she's doing fine, she always is.
Dad won't answer his phone at night, but I guess that's alright, the place is his.
The chairs are up on the bar now and they're asking me to leave,
So I give the girl a bill and start rolling down my sleeves.
In my pocket directions back across the railroad tracks to where I crash.
Maybe I should wave down a car, I won't be going far, and I have cash.
Think I blocked just a park away, but I can't really say, it's been all night.
How I wish you would call me here, but you just disappeared, it wasn't right.
And the streetlights help a little, but they're barely half alive
I don't feel much like walking and I sure as hell can't drive.
Close your eyes and remember this. It won't be back again, it's almost gone.
Even times that don't seem like much will be your only crutch when you're alone.
Time moves slow when you're seventeen and then it picks up steam at twenty-one.
Pretty soon you'll remember when you could remember when you loved someone.
She don't act like she needs me now and she don't even seem to be upset.
Maybe I cover too much ground, I've been from town to town since I grew up.
Could my dreams take up too much space? I'll never find a place that's big enough.
So I order one last double and start calling people back.
Says he's glad that he quit the road, he says he's getting old, he missed his wife.
Little Em's been asleep since nine, I'm sure she's doing fine, she always is.
Dad won't answer his phone at night, but I guess that's alright, the place is his.
So I give the girl a bill and start rolling down my sleeves.
Maybe I should wave down a car, I won't be going far, and I have cash.
Think I blocked just a park away, but I can't really say, it's been all night.
How I wish you would call me here, but you just disappeared, it wasn't right.
I don't feel much like walking and I sure as hell can't drive.
Even times that don't seem like much will be your only crutch when you're alone.
Time moves slow when you're seventeen and then it picks up steam at twenty-one.
Pretty soon you'll remember when you could remember when you loved someone.
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This song and this artist : nothing short of amazing. If you have not heard his contributions to the three albums he recorded with Drive By Truckers you are missing out on some of the best songwriting ever. Download his song "Goddamn lonely love" in whatever media you prefer and you will be a fan after one listen. This artist's songs evoke feeling in the listener. I had to literally stop myself from shedding tears the first time I heard the song mentioned above and this song Streetlights is an example of his ability to bring the listener into understanding what he feels when he tells his stories in song. Three incredible solo albums from this incredibly talented man and his band 'the 400 unit' is a "must" for your ipod or CD collection enjoy it.
I love the intentional drunkism "I think I blocked just a park away."
"So I order one more double and start calling people back." I've been here before. To hear it put across in lyrics was amazing.
A drunkard has been stood up by his girlfriend so he orders more drinks at an empty bar and calls friends to try to get some/any human connection. As he stumbles home after last call, he laments how his girlfriend “disappeared” on him. He can’t rely on anyone (or anything) to provide relief, even the “barely alive” streetlights only “help a little.” The last verse is in stark contrast to the earlier ones. Instead of bemoaning this lonely drunken night, he celebrates it and recognizes that “even times that don’t seem like much” - like tonight - will be his “only crutch” later on. “Time moves slow when you’re 17 and then it picks up steam at 21” is a telling line. The character in the song used to be a kid desperate to get out of his small “slow” town but now finds himself spiraling out of control - and yearns for a slower more centered existence. If he doesn’t find one he’s going to look back on this time as an older man and “remember when he loved someone” as the best memory of his life.