Tommy lies drunk on his own front lawn
At three in the morning, his work shirt still on
He curses the man, and he curses his boss
And a cloud rolls past and the night grows dark

Thirty-one years on the factory floor
The grease and the motor, the seven to four
And the face of his daughter, no child anymore
His wife and his mother, his life and his love

The heat and the rise of a burning shame
The pride in the work and the years that he gave
Just a flick of a pen, just a cold handshake
What’s a man really worth at the end of the day

And Tommy he stands and the rain starts to fall
He catches his step, and he heads for the car
And he drives past the factory lights in the dark
Just a man out of work, and a man out of luck

And the bars all empty, the town asleep
He presses the pedal, he tears up the street
To the edge of the town, where the highway leads
To the end of the world, to the end of a dream

And racing the headlights, the clouds never clear
And he’s revving the engine, he’s stripping the gears
And the moon on the asphalt, his face in the mirror
And the rain coming down like a dark chandelier

And the radio blasting, a song about home
He’s flying so fast, he’s leaving the ground
And the beautiful lights as he’s spinning around
And the silent night when the lights go out

And Tommy he wakes with the blood on his face
The moon up above, and the cool falling rain
He feels his body, and he hears his name
In the scream of the siren, in the heat of the flame

He calls for his daughter in the thick black night
He tells that he loves her, he yells for his wife
And he sees her above him, her dark, sad eyes
And he pleads with his god, and he bargains with time

And the rain falls harder, it washes away
The blood and the fire, the fear and the shame
And the sirens arrive and he screams and he prays
To the moon in the sky, to the stars and the rain

And nothing but mercy, the angels press
The gold of their robes to the well of his breast
And he opens his eyes, and he quietly says
Don’t take me tonight, i got work to do yet