Old City Bar Lyrics

Old City Bar lyrics

In an old city bar



That is never too far



From the places that gather



The dreams that have been 







In the safety of night



With its old neon light



It beckons to strangers



And they always come in 







And the snow it was falling



The neon was calling 



The music was low



And the night



Christmas Eve 







And here was the danger



That even with strangers



Inside of this night



It's easier to believe 







Then the door opened wide



And a child came inside



That no one in the bar



Had seen there before 







And he asked did we know



That outside in the snow



That someone was lost



Standing outside our door 







Then the bartender gazed



Through the smoke and the haze







Through the window and ice



To a corner streetlight 







Where standing alone



By a broken pay phone



Was a girl the child said



Could no longer get home 







And the snow it was falling



The neon was calling



The bartender turned



And said , not that I care



But how would you know this?



The child said I've noticed



If one could be home



They'd be all ready there







Then the bartender came out from behind the bar



And in all of his life he was never that far



And he did something else that he thought no one saw



When he took all the cash from the register draw 







Then he followed the child to the girl cross the street



And we watched from the bar as they started to speak



Then he called for a cab and he said J.F.K.



Put the girl in the cab and the cab drove away



And we saw in his hand



That the cash was all gone



From the light that she had



wished upon 







If you want to arrange it



This world you can change it 



If we could somehow make this



Christmas thing last 







By helping a neighbor



Or even a stranger 







And to know who needs help



You need only just ask 







Then he looked for the child



But the child wasn't there



Just the wind and the snow



Waltzing dreams through the air 







So he walked back inside



Somehow different I think



For the rest of the night



No one paid for a drink 







And the cynics will say 



That some neighborhood kid



Wandered in on some bums



In the world where they hid 







But they weren't there



So they couldn't see



By an old neon star



On that, night, Christmas Eve 







When the snow it was falling



The neon was calling 



And in case you should wonder



In case you should care 







Why we're on our own



Never went home



On that night of all nights



We were already there







Then all at once inside that night



He saw it all so clear



The answer that he sought so long



Had always been so near







It's every gift that someone gives



Expecting nothing back



It's every kindness that we do



Each simple little act