Track 6 of the album Lullabies for Grown-Ups · 2010
Leave a Light for the Late Train
“I used to wait for the last train with a bag of marking. It always arrived like a tired animal.”
singer-songwriter · night-train folk · quiet singer-songwriter · 3:49
Lyrics
The last train comes in at a quarter past ten With a sigh and a shudder of steel And I leave the hall light burning low And a plate that is covered with foil You're somewhere between here and the city With a tired head against the glass And I'm sitting here by the window Letting the quiet hours pass Leave a light for the late train Leave the door a little ajar Whoever you are, wherever you've been You're never so very far There's tea in the pot, there's a chair by the fire There's a blanket across the arm Leave a light for the late train Home is a kind of a balm I used to be fretful and watching I'd pace through the rooms in my socks Now I've learned that the waiting is also a way Of loving the turn of the clocks So I wind up the wool, and I water the plant And I hum something low to the cat And the platform comes up in the distance With a footstep, and a tip of a hat Leave a light for the late train Leave the door a little ajar Whoever you are, wherever you've been You're never so very far There's tea in the pot, there's a chair by the fire There's a blanket across the arm Leave a light for the late train Home is a kind of a balm And if you are weary, and if you are worn And if you've forgotten the way There's a window that's glowing, a gate that is open And a whole lot of love on its way I hear the latch and the boots on the mat And the world becomes small and kind You say that the day was a long one, and I say Sit down, and leave it behind Leave a light for the late train Leave the door a little ajar Whoever you are, wherever you've been You're never so very far There's tea in the pot, there's a chair by the fire There's a blanket across the arm Leave a light for the late train Home is a kind of a balm Leave a light Home is a kind of a balm