Arrivals Hall, Gate Nine

Lyrics

Two a.m. at the arrivals hall
Floor machine hums down the aisle
I got a paper cup of coffee gone cold
And a cardboard sign and a nervous smile
Her flight's been circling since midnight
Through the weather and the dark
I've been practicing what I'll say to her
Since I left her at the park

So I'll wait right here at the gate
Where the sliding doors swing wide
Twenty years of lost time
Walking in from the other side
Let her find me in the crowd
With my heart out in my hands
I'll be the old man by the window
With the light still on

A soldier kisses his baby girl
A grandma cries out loud
Every stranger gets a welcome home
From the waiting, weary crowd
I drove four hundred miles tonight
In the rattle of my truck
Never been much for the words, my girl
But I never gave up

So I'll wait right here at the gate
Where the sliding doors swing wide
Twenty years of lost time
Walking in from the other side
Let her find me in the crowd
With my heart out in my hands
I'll be the old man by the window
With the light still on

The board says landed, the board says gate nine
My knees go weak, my hands go numb
Every road I ever drove was a road to this line
And here she comes, here she comes

She stops there in the doorway
With her father's tired eyes
No speeches and no sorry
Just a hundred wet goodbyes
I take her bag, she takes my arm
We walk out in the cold
The sun is coming up behind us
Gold as an old road

So I waited right there at the gate
Where the sliding doors swung wide
Twenty years of lost time
Walking in from the other side
She found me in the crowd
With my heart out in my hands
The old man by the window
With the light still on

With the light still on
Yeah, the light still on