Old City Bar

In an [C/G]old city b[G/B]ar
That's n[Am7]ever too f[G]ar
From the p[Fadd9]laces that gath[Em]er
From the dr[Fadd9]eams that have been[G]
In the s[C/G]afety of ni[G/B]ght
By an [Am7]old neon l[G]ight
It b[Fadd9]eckons to strang[Em]ers
And t[Fadd9]hey always come in[G]

And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The music was low
And the night, Christmas Eve
And here was the danger
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

And the bartender gazed
Through the smoke and the haze
Through the window and ice
To that 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 already there."

Then the ba[F]rtender came o[C]ut
From be[G]hind the b[C]ar
In [F]all of his l[C]ife
He was n[G]ever that f[C]ar
And he [F]did something [C]else
That he th[G]ought no one s[C]aw
And he t[F]ook all the c[C]ash
From the reg[G]ister dra[C]wer

Then he fol[G]lowed the chi[C]ld
To the g[F]irl across the st[C]reet
And we wa[G]tched from the b[C]ar
As they st[F]arted to sp[C]eak
Then he ca[F]lled for a c[C]ab
And he [G]said, "J.F.K[C]."
Put the g[F]irl in the c[C]ab
Then the [G]cab drove aw[C]ay
And we [F]saw in his h[C]ands
That the c[G]ash was all go[C]ne
From the l[F]ight that she [C]had wished u[G]pon

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
The child wasn't there
Just the wind and the snow
Waltzing dreams through the air
And 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
Wondered in on some bums
In the world where they hid
But they werent there
So they couldnt see
By an old neon star
On that night Christmas Eve

When the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
In case you should wonder
In case you should care
Why we on our own
Never went home
On that night of all nights
We were already there