Track 9 of the album Hank's Garage, Again · 2026
Downshift on the Devil's Staircase
“Midnight on the mountain with fog on the glass and forty tons behind me on the hairpins. It's the slow hymn I close with when the lights go down.”
rock ballad · hymn rock · mountain ballad · 3:19
Lyrics
Midnight on the mountain, fog on the glass Forty tons behind me and the hairpins passing Used to white-knuckle it, cussing every mile Now I take it slow and I let myself smile There's a guardrail dented from some other man's night And a little white cross in my high beam light I touch the brim of my cap as I roll on by Say a quiet word to the dark and the sky Downshift, downshift, easy does it, friend The mountain don't care but the morning will bend One more curve and the valley will show Downshift, the lights of home down below Radio's fading to a hiss and a hum Thermos of coffee, and the heater's gone numb I think of my daughter asleep in her bed And the porch light she leaves on for me, she said Downshift, downshift, easy does it, friend The mountain don't care but the morning will bend One more curve and the valley will show Downshift, the lights of home down below There's a trucker's prayer for the steep descent Take it slow, take it slow, nothing's lost, nothing's spent Whoever you're missing, whoever's waiting The dark don't last, it's already breaking Downshift, downshift, easy does it, friend The mountain don't care but the morning will bend One more curve and the valley will show Downshift, the lights of home down below The lights of home down below Downshift, the lights of home down below