Track 5 of the album Vacancy Sign · 2011
Motel Ice Machine Blues
“Room one-fourteen, brown carpet, the ice machine groaning all night. I am sure the whole circuit knows this one.”
country · honky-tonk · motel blues · 4:41
Lyrics
Room one-fourteen, the carpet's brown Neon buzzing like a bee in town The ice machine's coughing down the hall Rattling out its midnight call I got a paper cup and a bottle of rye And a sad old song to keep me company tonight Oh that ice machine, it moans and groans Sings a lonesome tune in the dead of night Oh that ice machine, it knows my bones Humming low till the morning light I've played a hundred rooms like this one Same old hum when the show is done Just me and the ice machine blues Nothing left to win, nothing left to lose The clerk said checkout's at eleven But I'm already halfway to heaven Or a diner down the highway's bend Where the coffee's cheap and the pie won't end Tomorrow's town has a stage and a stool And a sound guy who thinks he's cool Oh that ice machine, it moans and groans Sings a lonesome tune in the dead of night Oh that ice machine, it knows my bones Humming low till the morning light I've played a hundred rooms like this one Same old hum when the show is done Just me and the ice machine blues Nothing left to win, nothing left to lose But somewhere out there in the dark Somebody's humming along to my heart And that's enough to make the miles worthwhile That's enough to make me smile So I fill my cup and raise it high To the buzzing sign and the starless sky To the traveling life and the faded name And the ice machine that sings the same Oh that ice machine, it moans and groans Sings a lonesome tune in the dead of night Oh that ice machine, it knows my bones Humming low till the morning light I've played a hundred rooms like this one Same old hum when the show is done Just me and the ice machine blues Nothing left to win, nothing left to lose Ice machine blues Humming low