[Intro - full band immediately]
[Fast boogie piano]
[Guitar answers]
[Voice]
Hey!
Don’t kill the engine!
[Verse 1]
My old man said:
“Be home by ten.”
I checked the clock.
Ten sixteen.
My buddy at the wheel
started laughing:
“If you’re gonna get in trouble,
might as well do it properly.”
Jacket crooked.
Comb in my pocket.
One loose coin
jumping on the dashboard.
Radio spits out
a piano on fire
and suddenly
nobody wants to head home.
[Guitar answers]
Hey!
[Pre-Chorus]
Roll the window up.
No, roll it down again.
Let the night in.
Let it mess up my hair.
[Chorus]
DON’T KILL THE ENGINE!
THE NIGHT AIN’T DONE!
DON’T KILL THE ENGINE!
WE’RE STILL HAVING FUN!
PIANO BURNING,
GUITAR BEHIND,
IF TOMORROW BRINGS TROUBLE...
TOMORROW CAN WAIT IN LINE.
DON’T KILL THE ENGINE!
DON’T KILL IT YET!
[Verse 2]
We stop outside
a tiny little bar.
Three tables out front.
Half-broken sign.
Inside there’s a guy
beating up a piano
like the keys
owe him money.
A girl gets up.
White shoes.
Walks over laughing:
“You know how to dance?”
I say:
“Of course.”
Lie.
Two seconds later
I nearly knock over a chair.
She laughs harder.
So do I.
She says:
“That wasn’t a move.”
I say:
“It is now.”
And we try it again.
[Break]
[Piano solo]
[Handclaps]
[Guitar enters]
[Tenor sax answers]
[Voice]
One more spin!
[Sax blast]
[Verse 3]
Outside somebody
leans on the horn.
Inside nobody
plans to leave.
The bartender
is stacking glasses
but his right foot
keeps giving him away.
My buddy shouts:
“We gotta go!”
Nobody listens.
Five minutes later
he’s standing on a chair
singing a chorus
he learned thirty seconds ago.
That’s what I like.
Serious people
just need
the right song.
[Chorus]
DON’T KILL THE ENGINE!
THE NIGHT AIN’T DONE!
DON’T KILL THE ENGINE!
WE’RE STILL HAVING FUN!
PIANO BURNING,
GUITAR BEHIND,
IF TOMORROW BRINGS TROUBLE...
TOMORROW CAN WAIT IN LINE.
DON’T KILL THE ENGINE!
DON’T KILL IT YET!
[Bridge]
[Band cuts]
My old man said:
“Ten.”
[Female voice in the back]
It’s midnight!
[Voice]
Well...
technically
it’s still nighttime.
[Drum fill]
[Final Chorus]
DON’T KILL THE ENGINE!
LET IT ROAR US HOME!
DON’T KILL THE ENGINE!
LET THAT SAXOPHONE BLOW!
PIANO ON FIRE!
BASS WALKING HARD!
GUITAR UP HIGH!
ONE MORE ROUND!
DON’T KILL THE ENGINE!
'CAUSE TOMORROW,
WHEN WE WAKE,
WE’LL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME
TO MAKE UP
WHAT WE’RE GONNA SAY.
[Outro]
[Final piano riff]
We pull up.
I check the clock.
My buddy asks:
“What are you gonna tell him?”
[Small pause]
Traffic.
[Final guitar hit]
