The Chairs Are Stacked, the Evening's Long

Lyrics

The last car's tail-lights found the lane
The glasses stand in rows
The August light is leaning long
Across the garden hose
I fold the cloth, I stack the chairs
The grass is warm and worn
There's something sweet in an empty yard
And something soft and torn

The chairs are stacked, the evening's long
The swallows circle slow
I'll sit a while and hold the hum
Of everyone I know
The party's gone, the party's good
It lingers in the air
The chairs are stacked, the evening's long
And I'm still sitting there

A paper hat upon the wall
A candle burnt to wax
A child's shoe by the apple tree
Some crumbs along the tracks
The dusk comes down in amber threads
The washing-up can wait
I hear the laughter in the leaves
Still tumbling past the gate

The chairs are stacked, the evening's long
The swallows circle slow
I'll sit a while and hold the hum
Of everyone I know
The party's gone, the party's good
It lingers in the air
The chairs are stacked, the evening's long
And I'm still sitting there

Summer's a guest who stays too late
And leaves without a word
I won't be sad, I'll hold the plate
And hum the song I heard

The lamp comes on in the kitchen glass
The moths come in to see
The dark is soft, the air is mild
It's enough to just be me

The chairs are stacked, the evening's long
The swallows circle slow
I'll sit a while and hold the hum
Of everyone I know
The party's gone, the party's good
It lingers in the air
The chairs are stacked, the evening's long
And I'm still sitting there

And I'm still sitting there