As mentioned in the album bio, many of the songs on “Prisoner” are inspired by Adams' divorce with Mandy Moore. In “Outbound Train”, Adams explores the emotions that come with knowing the relationship is ending.
[Verse 1]
How am I supposed to know
When it's time to go
In the middle of the night
When I'm all alone
Don't know what to do
Don't know what I'm even supposed to say
Like a train don’t moan
Till it starts to roll away
[Chorus]
The cars don't move in the middle of the night
Lost inside the void of the fading tail lights
I swear I wasn't lonely when I met you, girl
But I was so bored, I was so bored
I don't know anything anymore
[Verse 2]
I got this achin' in my chest
Rollin' around like a pile of bones
In a broken little box
It sounds a lot like you
Laughing to yourself
In a quiet room
Our eyes knowing more
Than they probably ought to
[Chorus]
The cars don't move in the middle of the night
Lost inside the void of the fading tail lights
I swear I wasn't lonely when I met you, girl
But I was so bored, I was so bored
I was so sure, I was so bored
I was so bored, I was so bored
I don't know anything anymore
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 3]
The walls are all cracked
The fan stutters in the room
Where we slept
Where I woke up next to you
Sometimes a man don't know
When he's got to walk away
I hear a rumbling and a moan
I feel like an outbound train
[Chorus]
The cars don't move in the middle of the night
Lost inside the void of the fading tail lights
I swear I wasn't lonely when I met you, girl
But I was so bored, I was so bored
I was so sure, I was so bored
I was so bored, I was so sure
I was so sure, I was so sure
I was so sure
I was so sure
I was so sure
I don't know anything anymore
Outbound Train was written by Ryan Adams.
Outbound Train was produced by Ryan Adams.
Ryan Adams released Outbound Train on Fri Feb 17 2017.