Album: Running On Empty
(spoken)
I? like to do a song I?e never played in public before
It? a brand new song
It? sort of a tribute to friends of mine that come out here on the road
And to you, too...
Now the seats are all empty
Let the roadies take the stage
Pack it up, tear it down,
they?e the first to come and the last to leave
Working for that minimum wage
They?l set it up in another town
Tonight the people were so fine
They waited there in line
And when they got up on their feet
They made the show
And that was sweet
I can hear the sound of slamming doors and folding chairs
That? a sound they?l never know
Roll them cases out and lift them amps
Haul them trusses down and get ?m up them ramps
When it comes to moving me,
You know you guys are the champs
But when that last guitar? been packed away
You know that I still wanna play
So make sure you?e got it all set to go
Before you come for my piano
But the band? on the bus
And they?e waiting to go
Gotta drive all night and do the show in Chicago
Or Detroit
I don? know
We do so many shows in a row
And these towns all look the same
We just pass the time in the hotel room
And wander round backstage
Til those lights come up
And we hear that crowd
And we remember why we came
Now we?e got country and western on the bus
R&B
We got disco on eight tracks and cassettes in stereo
And we got rural scenes and magazines
And we got truckers on CB
And we got Richard Pryor on the video
We got time to think of the ones we love
While the miles roll away
The only time that seems too short
Is the time that we get to play
People, you got the power over what we do
You can sit there and wait or you can pull us through
So come along, sing this song,
You know that you can? go wrong
Cause when that morning sun comes beating down
You?e gonna wake up in your town
But we?l be scheduled to appear a thousand miles away from here
People, stay just a little bit longer
We want to play -- just a little bit longer
Now the promoter don't mind
And the union don't mind
If we take a little time
And we leave it all behind and sing
One more song--