Packard Penny

[Verse 1]
The Packard Plant breathes rust on the August air again,
and we walk the tracks where the city's promise ends.
Got the same thin spot in our left shoe sole,
and a story that grew from a crack in the road.

[Chorus]
We don't cross the bridge past midnight 'less we pay the toll,
one shiny copper penny for a lost Detroit soul.

[Verse 2]
Grandma told us back in '92, leaning on the porch rail,
"Some debts don't leave when the body goes stale."
She pressed a warm coin in my palm, smelled of chicory and rain,
"This little key'll keep the bad dreams off the train."

[Chorus]
We don't cross the bridge past midnight 'less we pay the toll,
one shiny copper penny for a lost Detroit soul.

[Bridge]
It's a joke we tell until it feels like a prayer,
a weed in the concrete we just leave there.
Is it faith, or just the fear of being left here all alone?

[Chorus]
We don't cross the bridge past midnight 'less we pay the toll,
one shiny copper penny for a lost Detroit soul.

[Outro]
(Sound of a distant train whistle fades in)
"You got one?"