Service Entrance

[Verse 1]
The Alpine kitchen steam, summer of '09.
My knuckles raw and red under the fluorescent sign.
Felt the cold seep through the soles of my second-hand Vans,
Scraping wedding cake from porcelain into rusted cans.

[Chorus]
And I watched the ghosts in dinner coats laugh behind the glass,
Just a hum inside the wiring of a different social class.
The engine of the world just turned, and I was standing still,
Watching money on the Palisade hills.

[Verse 2]
The head chef saw me staring out the service window view,
Said, "'Son, those plates are older and worth more than you.'"
Felt the heat rise in my face, a busted radiator coil,
Just my reflection staring back from the grease and the oil.

[Chorus]
And I watched the ghosts in dinner coats raise another glass,
Just a stripped gear turning in a different social class.
The engine of the world revved high, and I was in the red,
With the echoes of their fathers ringing in my head.

[Bridge]
Now the Turnpike sings a different tune under these new tires.
I see that country club sometimes, a string of distant fires.
A kid I barely recognize is trapped inside that steam,
Polishing the silver from someone else's dream.

[Chorus]
And I see that ghost in a stained white coat, staring through the glass,
A phantom limb still aching from a different social class.
But the engine of my world caught flame, it wasn't standing still,
I'm the money on the Palisade hills.

[Outro]
The service entrance light is out.
Been out for years now.