Track 9 of the album The Long Way Home · 2013
The Last Bus Across the River
“The night bus over the river, all amber lights and closed shutters. I tried to make the guitar sound like the engine idling.”
singer-songwriter · night-bus folk · hushed singer-songwriter · 3:47
Lyrics
The night bus hums along the bridge Past shuttered shops and amber lights A woman sleeping on the glass A boy with headphones, eyes held tight I take the seat above the wheel Where the warm air breathes against my knees The whole wide city rocking slow Like a cradle set on wheels Oh, the last bus across the river Carries all of us the same Tired hands and borrowed hours Each one going home again Nobody here is a stranger When the streets are dark and long The last bus across the river Hums us gently on The driver nods at every stop Though no one's waiting in the cold He knows the names of empty streets The way a shepherd knows his fold A man gets on with paper flowers A little crushed but still in bloom He holds them like a sleeping child And smiles at no one in the room Oh, the last bus across the river Carries all of us the same Tired hands and borrowed hours Each one going home again Nobody here is a stranger When the streets are dark and long The last bus across the river Hums us gently on And I think of all the lit-up windows Where somebody has left a lamp For the ones still out and travelling Through the quiet and the damp We are small, but we are carried We are small, but we are seen By the glow of a passing streetlight On a window's fogged-up pane My stop comes up, I press the bell It chimes into the sleepy air I step down into the cooling dark And the bus pulls off with a sigh and a prayer Oh, the last bus across the river Carries all of us the same Tired hands and borrowed hours Each one going home again Nobody here is a stranger When the streets are dark and long The last bus across the river Hums us gently on Hums us gently on Hums us gently home