The Merlin Café

The Merlin Café is empty
Save for a drunk or two
The waitress is waiting on going
And I've quit waiting on you
Midnight lovers are all the same
We dream in impossible ways
In the faded light we come alive
And hide away from the days

A song will last forever
A single dream goes far
Loneliness strips you down to the bone
That's when you know who you are
'Cause you pay the price for choosing
The night instead of day
It's never just a case of losing
But throwing it all away

And I'll write you a song in the morning
And I'll sing it for you someday
I'll say all the things I should have said
Before you went away

The joker in his reverie
Takes another glass of wine
The poet watches carefully
And writes another line
A joker's just a dreamer
Who got lost along the way
And dreamers can be poets
In this crazy cabaret

I remember an old man passing
His time was slipping away
I was holding his hand and waiting
'Cause there was something he wanted to say
He said, "Friends in time of trouble
They are the hardest to find
Hold on to them forever
And leave the rest behind"

And I'll write you a song in the morning
And I'll sing it for you someday
I'll say all the things I should have said
Before you went away