Open Till Ten, Mr. Pereira's Corner Shop

Lyrics

Bell above the door goes ching
Same as it did when I was nine
Mr. Pereira at the counter
Reading glasses, folded line
Penny sweets in paper bags
Milk and bread and the evening news
He knows my name, he knows my mother's
He knows which paper I would choose

Open till ten, the sign says so
The only light on the street
Open till ten for the ones who forgot
Something small and something sweet
When the whole town's gone to sleep
There's a window glowing gold
Open till ten, and he's waiting there
With a kind word for the cold

A night nurse buying tea and mints
A trucker counting out his change
A kid who needs a birthday card
He lets him pay another day
He never makes a speech about it
Just slides the bag across
Says "Get on home, it's late, now go"
And nobody's ever lost

Open till ten, the sign says so
The only light on the street
Open till ten for the ones who forgot
Something small and something sweet
When the whole town's gone to sleep
There's a window glowing gold
Open till ten, and he's waiting there
With a kind word for the cold

Some folks build a monument
Some folks write their name in stone
He just kept the shutters up
And never let us feel alone
Every town should have a light
Like that one on the corner there
A little bell, a little kindness
Hanging in the evening air

Now I'm grown and far from home
I stop at every corner store
I buy a thing I do not need
Just to hear a little bell once more
And if I ever have a door
I'll keep it open late
For anyone who's walking past
Who needs a place to wait

Open till ten, the sign says so
The only light on the street
Open till ten for the ones who forgot
Something small and something sweet
When the whole town's gone to sleep
There's a window glowing gold
Open till ten, and I'll be waiting there
With a kind word for the cold

Ching goes the bell, ching goes the bell
Goodnight, goodnight, all is well