Track 5 of the album Ice in the Glass · 2012
Last Bus Is a Slow Boat
“The last bus really does arrive like a slow boat when you're tired and happy. We let the tempo drift the way the bus did.”
jazz · late-night jazz · cool jazz · 3:42
Lyrics
The last bus comes in like a slow boat Windows all gold on the wet black street I climb aboard with my collar up Nobody here but the tired and sweet The driver nods like an old sea captain The heater hums a lullaby Streetlamps float by like little lanterns And the whole town sleeps as we drift on by Ride easy, ride easy, the night is wide The last bus is a slow boat home Let the harbour lights of the corner shops Say the day is done, you're not alone Ride easy, ride easy, the engine hums The last bus is a slow boat home A woman holds her sleeping child A sailor, maybe, in a postman's coat We pass the bakery with its light still on Every one of us a quiet boat The bell rings once for a darkened corner Someone steps down, and the doors sigh shut The rain writes letters on the window And I read them slowly, nothing rushed Ride easy, ride easy, the night is wide The last bus is a slow boat home Let the harbour lights of the corner shops Say the day is done, you're not alone Ride easy, ride easy, the engine hums The last bus is a slow boat home Some nights the road is a river Some nights the river is the sea And all I ask is a seat by the window And a little room to breathe My stop is coming, I can see the porch light I press the bell, soft as a sigh The driver says, sleep well, my friend And the slow boat sails on into the night Ride easy, ride easy, the night is wide The last bus is a slow boat home Let the harbour lights of the corner shops Say the day is done, you're not alone Ride easy, ride easy, the engine hums The last bus is a slow boat home The last bus is a slow boat home Slow boat home