Night Train

Not a knife throw from here, you can hear the night train passing That's the sound somebody makes when they're getting away Leaving next week's hanging jury far behind them A prisoner only of the choices they've made Night train Night train Ice cube in a dark drink shines like starlight The moon is floating somewhere out at sea On an island in the blur of noise and color Alcatraz, St. Helena, Patmos and the Chateau D'If Night train Night train And everyone's an island edged with sand A temporary refuge where somebody else can stand 'Til the sea that binds us like the forced tide of a blood oath Will wear it down, dissolve it, recombine it Anyone can die here, they do it every day It doesn't take much effort Though it goes against the grain And the ultimate forgetfulness of violence Sweeps the landscape like the headlight of a train Night train Night train Ice cube in a dark drink shines like starlight Starlight shines like glass shards in dark hair And the mind's eye tumbles out along the steel track Fixing every shadow with its stare Night train Night train And in the absence of a vision there are nightmares And in the absence of compassion there is cancer Whose banner waves over palaces and mean streets And the rhythm of the night train is a mantra