Story Behind The Song

This was written for our cousin Heath Grable, who works the second shift at our local Ford plant.

Song Description

A blue-collar after-hours song in the style of mid-tempo Bruce Springsteen & John Mellencamp. It's about that feeling you get after finishing a shift in the middle of the night when you're too restless to go home & sleep, so you cruise your town in the ea

Lyrics

2nd shift has punched out for the evening
The parking lot is bare 'cept for your car
You're walking towards it past the trash & beer cans
Stepping under streetlights & the stars

They're shining down
Reflect the empties' glare
You turn the key
& then you peel on outta there

On a night just like this one
You can feel it in your guts, son
& you won't let another night go by
& the sound from the dashboard
Is the best song that you heard
& you won't let another night go by
Not on a night like this

Driving past your home, they're all asleep now
But there's no way you can sleep with how you feel
Time to put some miles 'tween you & that job
Nothing sometimes but this road seems real

Past the bar
Next to the drive-in screens
Hammer down
'Cause no one's here to share these streets

On a night just like this one
You can feel it in your guts, son
& you won't let another night go by
& the sound from the dashboard
Is the best song that you heard
& you won't let another night go by
Not on a night like this

You still count the years you've worked on that floor
By every month's new scars your hands will show
You still tell the time of year by how new
Your Christmas leather's boots look in the snow

But tonight
You don't think on those things
The needle spikes
The dashlight hums, the tires sing.

On a night just like this one
You can feel it in your guts, son
& you won't let another night go by
& the sound from the dashboard
Is the best song that you heard
& you won't let another night go by
Not on a night like this.