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)