The City Sleeps

Stealing down an ally on a cold dark night I see a halo in the rain 'round a street light I stop and look, and listen to the sound As the raindrops penetrate the silence all around Alone, I gaze into the glistening street The distant thunder echoing my heartbeat Urging me on to a secret goal Away from the light, from this lamp on a pole So I turn, slip away into the rain Drifting like a spirit through the shadows in the lane Clutching the tools of my trade in my hand An old box of matches and a gasoline can Darkness envelopes the scene like a shroud A veil of emptiness hangs from the clouds Filling up the cracks in this desolate place Cradled by the night in an icy embrace Moving through the town like a ghost in the rain A dim reflection in a dark windowpane Blackness beckons from every side Creeping all around like an incoming tide A broken window in an empty house I slip inside and begin to douse The whole place with the fuel that will feed the fire And push back the night, taking me higher On out of the darkness in a deafening roar The match in my hand is the key to the door A simple turn of the wrist will suffice To open a passage to paradise I pause, I think about the past in the gloom The smell of gasoline permeates the room Everyone has a little secret he keeps I light the fires while the city sleeps (Like the Fourth of July) The match makes a graceful arc to the floor And time stands still as I turn for the door Which explodes in a fireball and throws me to the street I hit the ground running with the flames at my feet Reaching for the night which recoils from the fire The raindrops hiss like a devilish choir Dying in the flames with a terrible sound Calling all the names of the sleepers all around But dead in the arms of the night they lay Their dreams sprout wings and fly away Out of the houses in a gathering flock Swarming overhead as I hurry down the block I make my escape with the greatest of ease And safe in the darkness drop to my knees At a lightless window, my hand on the latch I reach in my pocket, and pull out a match (Like the Fourth of July) (Like the Fourth of July)