Dark Chandelier

Tommy lies drunk on his own front lawn

At three in the morning, his work shirt still on

He curses the man, and he curses his boss

And a cloud rolls past and the night grows dark

Thirty-one years on the factory floor

The grease and the motor, the seven to four

And the face of his daughter, no child anymore

His wife and his mother, his life and his love

The heat and the rise of a burning shame

The pride in the work and the years that he gave

Just a flick of a pen, just a cold handshake

What’s a man really worth at the end of the day

And Tommy he stands and the rain starts to fall

He catches his step, and he heads for the car

And he drives past the factory lights in the dark

Just a man out of work, and a man out of luck

And the bars all empty, the town asleep

He presses the pedal, he tears up the street

To the edge of the town, where the highway leads

To the end of the world, to the end of a dream

And racing the headlights, the clouds never clear

And he’s revving the engine, he’s stripping the gears

And the moon on the asphalt, his face in the mirror

And the rain coming down like a dark chandelier

And the radio blasting, a song about home

He’s flying so fast, he’s leaving the ground

And the beautiful lights as he’s spinning around

And the silent night when the lights go out

And Tommy he wakes with the blood on his face

The moon up above, and the cool falling rain

He feels his body, and he hears his name

In the scream of the siren, in the heat of the flame

He calls for his daughter in the thick black night

He tells that he loves her, he yells for his wife

And he sees her above him, her dark, sad eyes

And he pleads with his god, and he bargains with time

And the rain falls harder, it washes away

The blood and the fire, the fear and the shame

And the sirens arrive and he screams and he prays

To the moon in the sky, to the stars and the rain

And nothing but mercy, the angels press

The gold of their robes to the well of his breast

And he opens his eyes, and he quietly says

Don’t take me tonight, i got work to do yet