At 2:07 AM, the A train keeps moving east toward Far Rockaway. A passenger holds white flowers wrapped in pharmacy paper while the car thins out, station by station, until the terminal wind gets inside.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Two oh seven, the platform hums
Queens is a map with the corners rubbed
She holds white flowers in pharmacy paper
The stems lean left when the car leans later
[Verse 2]
At Rockaway Boulevard, the doors breathe wide
A man with a mop looks through, then steps aside
The bouquet leaves water on the vinyl seat
The tunnel keeps time underneath our feet
[Chorus]
Far Rockaway, carry me out
Past the last lit window, past the doubt
I don't know who they're for, but I know where they go
East on the A train, slow as snow
[Verse 3]
At Beach Forty-Nine, the car goes thin
Blue light trembles on the metal skin
She checks the paper, one petal loose
The ocean comes in with the train's brake shoes
[Bridge]
No one says goodnight at the terminal wall
The rails cool down, the gulls start calling
She lifts the flowers into the wind
And the doors close soft, then open again
[Outro]
Two oh seven, the platform hums
White flowers turning toward the sun