A whistle blows The doors slide shut I store my baggage overhead The train hisses a goodbye, the station scrolls by
I fold my coat to make a bed
I can´t afford a cabin, I can barely pay for this I envy fellow travelers in their bunks I look around the carriage and see familiar faces The dejected, the deserted and the drunks So I decide to join them, I walk into the club car The barman says tonight my drinks are free He says he knew that I was coming, he´s an old friend of the family I might not know him but he knows me Our first stop´s at midnight, we scrape into a station The platform pristine and glowing white A nuclear family sits waiting, the children behave Mom and dad hand in hand, they all smile and wave
I ignore them, we push further into night
Keep on rolling Just keep rolling Now I must be gone
I fall in and out of sleep Unseen scenery flies by, hidden in the darkness, behind glass The window is my mirror, I look into my eyes Watching for the light I hope will pass I go back up to the club car but nobody´s there The barman´s gone, his work must be done He´s left a gift on the bar A six-pack with a tag that reads "I thought you might need these, have fun" The next station´s almost empty, there´s just a lonely busker
He´s singing an old song I think I wrote But he´s singing the wrong words above his empty hat And his rhythm is wrong too and he´s singing it so flat He appalls me with every awful note
Keep on rolling Just keep rolling Now I must be gone
One last stop before my final destination We slow into a tunnel and arrive All is quiet, there´s no one around Not a soul, not one thing alive There´s a statue on the concourse An old father of the town A paragon of virtue with cold eyes
He turns those eyes to me and sadly asserts "The sinner´s life decides his demise" And then the lights are cut, the station turns black And once again a face is all I see I study its creases, the crow´s feet and laugh lines I´m not even sure that it´s me
Keep on rolling Just keep rolling Now I must be gone Keep on rolling Bells are tolling Now I must be gone
Now this is my last chance to turn and go home Only seconds left before the doors close
I stand in the doorway, my bag left behind I look for light, a whistle blows