(Bill Berry)
I play the bass in a bar by the old train station
It's a little place, you don't need to know the name
The band gets drunk to aid our imagination
'Cause the songs we play all tend to sound the same
The regulars, they treat each other like family
There's T-Bone and Crazy Ida, and the Chief
Who keeps his silver hair in braids and ribbons
And tells stories too fantastic to believe
The truckers stop to rest their loads
With the locals who've got nowhere else to go
And when last call comes at 2 AM
The room heaves a sigh, cause the nights about to end
Again
And then they turn on the lights and start to clear the tables
They wipe the bar and split the jar and then shut off the cable
And we say goodbye to friends and walk outside, if you're able
Into the cold, dark night
When they turn on the lights.
Well, the shooters lay their quarters on the pool table
Lined up to play the winner of last game
But you'd better know who's playing just before you
'Cause quarters, they all tend to look the same.
Last night a stranger came into the barroom
Set a quarter down, and ordered up a scotch
He nodded "hello" to a few of the players
But no one answered, so he sat down to watch
Soon the stranger saw it was his turn
But his quarter was grabbed by Johnny Burns
Who asked him "Now what you gonna do?"
The stranger stared and his face turned red
And he stood up, and someone said
"You gonna make something of it?"
He told 'em "If I have to."
The anger was contagious
And a fist flew from the crowd
That caught him on the jaw, and he went down
And his neck snapped back
And his head cracked on the ground
And the stranger didn't make another sound
Well, the barmaid, she called the police right after
And asked if anybody knew his name
No one had even cared to ask him
'Cause strangers, they all tend to look the same.
Then they started calling out songs for us to play
And resumed their game, to see who was the best
Stepping over him, when he was in the way
Took a quarter, and dropped it on his chest.
The cops came and saw him on the ground
And touched his wrist, and looked around
Then asked, "Who started the fight?"
"It was the man down there," the barmaid said
And the cop remarked, "Well, he looks dead.
Stop the god-damned music.
And someone turn on the lights".
And then they turned on the lights and began to clear the tables
They wiped the bar and split the jar and then shut off the cable
And we said goodbye to friends and walked outside, those who were able
Into the cold, dark night
When they turned on the lights.
I play the bass in a bar by the old train station.
