The Heart Of Saturday Night

Diamonds on my windshield
Tears from heaven
Pulling into town on the interstate
Pulling a steel train in the rain
The wind bites my cheek through the wing
Fast flying, freway driving
Always makes me sing

There's a duster tryin' to change my tune
Pulling up fast on the right
Rolling restlessly, twenty-four hour moon

Wisconsin hiker with a cue-ball head
Wishing he was home in a wiscosin bed
Fifteen feet of snow in the east
Colder then a welldigger's ass

Oceanside it ends the ride, san clemente coming up
Sunday desperadoes slip by, gas station closed,
Cruise with a dry back
Orange drive-in the neon billin'
Theatre's fillin' to the brim
Slave girls and a hot spurn bucket full of sin

Metropolitan area with interchange and connections
Fly-by-nights from riverside
Black and white plates, out of state,
Running a little bit late

Sailors jockey for the fast lane
101 don't miss it
Rolling hills and concrete fields
The broken line's on your mind

Eights go east and the fives go north
The merging nexus back and forth
You see your sign, cross the line,
Signalling with a blink

The radio's gone off the air
Gives you time to think
You ease it out and you creep across
Intersection light goes out
You hear the rumble
As you fumble for a cigarette
Blazing through this midnight jungle
Remember someone that you met
One more block; the engine talks
And whispers 'home at last'
It whispers, whispers, whispers
'home at last', home at last

I'm leavin' my fam'ly
Leavin' all my friends
My body's at home
But my heart's in the wind
Where the clouds are like headlines
On a new front page sky
My tears are salt water
And the moon's full and high

And i know martin eden's
Gonna be proud of me
And many before me
Who've been called by the sea
To be up in the crow's nest
Singin' my say
Shiver me timbers
'cause i'm a-sailin' away

And the fog's liftin'
And the sand's shiftin'
I'm driftin' on out
Ol' captain ahab
He ain't got nothin' on me, now.
So swallow me, don't follow me
I'm trav'lin' alone
Blue water's my daughter
'n i'm gonna skip like a stone

So please call my missus
Gotta tell her not to cry
'cause my goodbye is written
By the moon in the sky
Hey and nobody knows me
I can't fathom my stayin'
Shiver me timbers
'cause i'm a-sailin' away

And the fog's liftin'
And the sand's shiftin'
I'm driftin' on out
Ol' captain ahab
He ain't got nothin' on me
So come and swallow me, follow me
I'm trav'lin' alone
Blue water's my daughter
'n i'm gonna skip like a stone

And i'm leavin' my family
Leavin' all my friends
My body's at home
But my heart's in the wind
Where the clouds are like headlines
Upon a new front page sky
And shiver me timbers
'cause i'm a-sailin' away

Well you hate those diesels rollin'
And those friday nights out bowlin'
When he's off for a twelve hour lay over night

You wish you had a dollar
For every time he hollered
That he's leavin'
And he's never comin' back

But the curtain-laced billow
And his hands on your pillow
And his trousers are hangin' on the chair

You're lyin' through your pain, babe
But you're gonna tell him he's your man
And you ain't got the courage to leave

He tells you that you're on his mind
You're the only one he's ever gonna find
It's kind-a special, understands his complicated soul...

But the only place a man can breathe
And collect his thoughts is
Midnight and flyin' away on the road.

But you've packed and unpacked
So many times you've lost track
And the steam heat is drippin' off the walls

But when you hear his engines
You're lookin' through the window in the kitchen and you know
You're always gonna be there when he calls

'cause he's a truck drivin' man
Stoppin' when he can
He's a truck drivin' man
Stoppin' when he can

Friday left me fumblin' with the blues
And it's hard to win when you always lose
Because the nightspots spend your spirit
Beat your head against the wall
Two dead ends and you've still got to choose

You know the bartenders
They all know my name
And they catch me when i'm pulling up lame
And i'm a pool-shooting-shimmy-shyster shaking my head
When i should be living clean instead

You know the ladies i've been seeing off and on
Well they spend your love and then they're gone
You can't be lovin' someone who is savage and cruel
Take your love and then they leave on out of town
No they do

Well now fallin' in love is such a breeze
But its standin' up that's so hard for me
I wanna squeeze you but i'm scared to death i'd break your back
You know your perfume
Well it won't let me be

You know the bartenders all know my name
And they catch me when i'm pulling up lame
And i'm a pool-shooting-shimmy-shyster shaking my head
When i should be living clean instead

Come on baby
Let your love light shine
Gotta bury me inside of your fire
Because your eyes are 'nough to blind me
You're like a-looking at the sun
You gotta whisper tell me i'm the one
Come on and whisper tell me i'm the one
Gotta whisper tell me i'm the one
Come on and whisper tell me i'm the one

Well you gassed her up
Behind the wheel
With your arm around your sweet one
In your oldsmobile
Barrelin' down the boulevard
You're looking for the heart of saturday night

And you got paid on friday
And your pockets are jinglin'
And you see the lights
You get all tinglin' cause you're cruisin' with a 6
And you're looking for the heart of saturday night

Then you comb your hair
Shave your face
Tryin' to wipe out ev'ry trace
All the other days
In the week you know that this'll be the saturday
You're reachin' your peak

Stoppin' on the red
You're goin' on the green
'cause tonight'll be like nothin'
You've ever seen
And you're barrelin' down the boulevard
Lookin' for the heart of saturday night

Tell me is the crack of the poolballs, neon buzzin?
Telephone's ringin'; it's your second cousin
Is it the barmaid that's smilin' from the corner of her eye?
Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye.

Makes it kind of quiver down in the core
'cause you're dreamin' of them saturdays that came before
And now you're stumblin'
You're stumblin' onto the heart of saturday night

Well you gassed her up
And you're behind the wheel
With your arm around your sweet one
In your oldsmobile
Barrellin' down the boulevard,
You're lookin' for the heart of saturday night

Is the crack of the poolballs, neon buzzin?
Telephone's ringin'; it's your second cousin
And the barmaid is smilin' from the corner of her eye
Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye.

Makes it kind of special down in the core
And you're dreamin' of them saturdays that came before
It's found you stumblin'
Stumblin' onto the heart of saturday night
And you're stumblin'
Stumblin onto the heart of saturday night

The evening fell just like a star
Left a trail behind
You spit as you slammed out the door
If this is love we're crazy
As we fight like cats and dogs
But i just know there's got to be more

So please call me, baby
Wherever you are
It's too cold to be out walking in the streets
We do crazy things when we're wounded
Everyone's a bit insane
I don't want you catching your death of cold
Out walking in the rain

I admit that i ain't no angel
I admit that i ain't no saint
I'm selfish and i'm cruel and i'm blind
If i exorcise my devils
Well my angels may leave too
When they leave they're so hard to find

(chorus)

We're always at each other's throats
It drives me up the wall
Most of the time i'm just blowing off steam
And i wish to god you'd leave me
And i wish to god you'd stay
Life's so different than it is in your dreams

(chorus)