A Place to Stand

The night was long, a hollow echo
Of tired songs and borrowed time
Maybe the dawn is pulling me forward
Or I'm just done with leaving it behind

New Orleans, you're a grand, cruel theater
I love you, though I don't fit your part
Your Dixieland isn't my rhythm
And your hunger has hollowed my heart

Give me steel for these worn-out fingers
A steak and a glass of black grain
A partner to sway in the lamplight
And shoes that don't welcome the rain

I'm done with the neon of Nashville
Where every note carries a cost
They tell you exactly when you're ready
Then they count everything you've lost

I'm finished with Memphis' shadows
Where the clubs are as small as their pride
Barred by the shade of my brothers
While the music is dying inside
And if they do grant me the spotlight
It's only to settle the tab for the rye

All I crave is the breath of the music
To survive on the soul of a string
And if it's in old Louisiana
Then I'll have the world on a wing

But my bones are weary of wandering
Of the road and its infinite gray
Knocking on doors like a phantom
Begging for permission to play

Since the day I fled from Saint Louis
I don't rest long, I don't stay long
I have to play just to keep on breathing
In a world that keeps me away