Lyrics

There’s a picture on this postcard of the motel where I’m staying
With the swimming pool, the archway and roses by the door
But it doesn’t show the parking lot, the highway and the traffic
And my temporary home here on the second floor
And it doesn’t show the last few leaves still clinging to the maples
Like embers from a fire soon to die away
And it doesn’t show the afternoon sun fading into twilight
In the last cold color of a late autumn day

There’s a diner on the corner where the kitchen never closes
And the turkey and the pumpkin pie almost taste like home
I got talking with an older couple waiting for a table
They invited me to join them when they saw I was alone
We talked about our families and showed each other pictures
They said it must be hard to spend so many days apart
They could see the warmth that’s in your eyes, the mischief in your smile
But they couldn’t hear your laughter or feel the love that’s in your heart

Bridge:

Then two truckers came in from over the border
Some little French town up near Montreal
Thanksgiving up there was back in October
So for them it’s just Thursday and another long haul

There’s a floor plan on my room door that shows the nearest exit
The checkout time, the room rates and a dozen rules to know
But it doesn’t show me staying here this night in late November
On the last leg of a six-week tour and five more days to go
And it doesn’t show me sitting here awake till early morning
With a sandwich from the diner in the television light
And it doesn’t show me reaching for the phone to say I love you
And it doesn’t show me missing you and wishing you good night