| The sun was a half-dollar coin in the November sky
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| The porter, he helped me to drag my old suitcase inside
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| My friends shook their heads and said it was faster to fly
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| But every compatriot climbing on after had all made the same choice as mine
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| I’m on the night train, see this land for a change
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| Gardens in the backyards, a far mountain range
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| I’m taking my time, I’ll stay on this line to the end of the track
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| And watch the sun rise maybe two or three times before I come back
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| From breadlines to cafes, the buildings have worn over time
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| For every American dreamer, a mountain to climb
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| Orchards and fields and the harvest from April to frost
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| Men forging steel into bridges their children would cross
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| The rusty old combines and factories rose from the past
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| And history fell in the shadows that each of them cast
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| From Memphis to Denver I thought of my grandmother’s hands
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| Pressing that fifty-cent piece in my palm, saying «Take this as far as you can»
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| I’m on the night train, see this land for a change
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| Gardens in the backyards, a far mountain range
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| I’m taking my time, I’ll stay on this line to the end of the track
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| And watch the sun rise maybe two or three times before I come back
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| My helpless uncertainty, let it slide off of me
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| Hope in the city streets shiny and hungry
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| One with each other, the daughters the mothers
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| The good and the evil are just regular people
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| Deep down I know I’m still fanning the flames just by
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| Trying to find the right person to blame
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| Cause it’s easier putting a face to your fear than a name
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| The half-dollar coin in the sky shines with Kennedy’s call
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| A cold war continues but now it’s inside of us all
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| Silence surrounds us, we’re waiting for morning to come
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| The train is still rolling, the bridge is still holding, and there is still
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| work to be done
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| I’m on the night train, the skyline in sight
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| We’re passing the salvage yard, into the morning light
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| I’m taking my time, this country of mine, we’ll get it on track
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| We’ll watch the sun rise maybe two or three times as we come back
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| We’ll watch the sun rise maybe two or three times as we come back |