Broadway traffic streaming light
She came from California
Running from daylight into
This endless electric twilight
And when she dies a ghost is born
Singing “Get up! Get up! Get up!
Get up out of your memories!
Get out of the sunlight
Get out of that sleeping western town”
Got a little bit of running for you now
Got a little way to run
To answer all our hopes and fears
A king is leaving Union Square
Did we leave the light on?
Does he need a light on?
The king is screaming highway songs
Of blood and lies
Of hope and wrong
Did he leave a light on?
Does he need a light on?
Yesterday when we get older
We’ll look back on all the times
He had you putting a face on
Instead of just walking away
So paint your face black and blue again
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
Wake up new and
Put on the clothes that make you feel like you’re not broken
He put a little bit of color in your eye
You got a little bit of color
To answer all our hopes & prayers
An angel sang in Union Square
Did she leave the light on?
Do we need a light on?
The congregation came to stare
To touch her dress
To pull her hair
They tore her clothes and left her there
Did she need a light on?
Do we need a light on?
Do we need a light on?
Do we need a light on?
These daydream nations won’t come true
The ghosts you made up ghosted you
The angel learns to live with
Things that make her feel uneasy
And after all the dreaming’s done
She screams “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
This is a recording
A ghost of England
Awake in a dream of America”
You see him coming out the corner of your eye
You can hear him breathing when he runs
The King of all our hopes and fears
His train departing Union Square
Just moved to somewhere South of here
Did he leave a light on?
Her feathers stale with sex and beer
The angel of the pavement cries
“If god is dead, why am I here?
Did he leave a light on
For me?
Did he leave a light on
For me?
Did he leave a light on
For me?
Did he leave a light on
For me?”
Music and Lyrics by Adam Duritz