In the heart of the night In the cool southern rain There's a full moon in sight Shining down on the Pontchartrain And the river she rises Just like she used to do She's so full of surprises She reminds me of you In the heart of the night In the heart of the night In the heart of the night Oh, whoa, down in New Orleans There's a night bird singing Right on through till the dawn And the streets are still ringing With people carrying on It's been so long waiting Just to be here again Anticipating All the time I could spend In the heart of the night In the heart of the night In the heart of the night And I trust in your love Never falling down I trust in your love Just like I do in this town Whoa, never falling down Whoa, never falling down In the heart of the night In the cool fallin' rain There's a full moon in sight Shining down on the Pontchartrain And the river she rises Just like she used to do She's so full of surprises Oh, momma, she reminds me of you Right here, in the heart of the night In the heart of the night In the heart of the night, oh, oh Down in New Orleans And I'm so glad to be back in New Orleans Please don't wake me, don't shake me If it's only, if it's only just a dream 'Cause it's the only place I can face that makes me feel so right Below that Dixie moon and loving you In the heart of the night

Why do the birds sing so early in the dawn? Their honeysuckle melodies, before my day's alarm I imagine they're rehearsing for some big, elaborate show That I've not been invited to, so I should never know The songs they like to sing, I suppose they're not too far From all the songs I sing, when I'm alone late in my car (when I'm alone late in my car) And if I were the postman awake for the afternoon I'd be the lucky someone eavesdropping on their tunes But I think I like it better when I sleep late past their call For all I know, perhaps the birds don't even sing at all We are nothing Love comes easily to you But not the hurt You're impervious to blue I wish I knew How to sing about the other colors too

Jumped and took a fall Expected I would fly I didn't know that wings Were made of wax and wires But I forgive the sun For burning like it's June 'Cause bones can always mend But there's only one of you You're gravity to me You keep me in my place And without your pull I'd just be lost in space I'm tethered to your heart Oh, any distance wide When whispering your words I hear them amplified And I'm out here on a limb In this vacuum of two So believe when I say That my eyes see only you You're gravity to me You keep me in my place And without your pull I'd just be lost in space

I'm traveling in some vehicle I'm sitting in some cafe A defector from the petty wars That shell shock love away There's comfort in melancholy When there's no need to explain It's just as natural as the weather In this moody sky today In our possessive coupling So much could not be expressed So now i'm returning to myself These things that you and i suppressed I see something of myself in everyone Just at this moment of the world As snow gathers like bolts of lace Waltzing on a ballroom girl You know it never has been easy Whether you do or you do not resign Whether you travel the breadth of extremities Or stick to some straighter line Now here's a man and a woman sitting on a rock They're either going to thaw out or freeze Listen... Strains of benny goodman Coming thru' the snow and the pinewood trees I'm porous with travel fever But you know i'm so glad to be on my own Still somehow the slightest touch of a stranger Can set up trembling in my bones I know - no one's going to show me everything We all come and go unknown Each so deep and superficial Between the forceps and the stone Well i looked at the granite markers Those tribute to finality - to eternity And then i looked at myself here Chicken scratching for my immortality In the church they light the candles And the wax rolls down like tears There's the hope and the hopelessness I've witnessed thirty years We're only particles of change i know, i know Orbiting around the sun But how can i have that point of view When i'm always bound and tied to someone White flags of winter chimneys Waving truce against the moon In the mirrors of a modern bank >from the window of a hotel room I'm traveling in some vehicle I'm sitting in some cafe A defector from the petty wars Until love sucks me back that way