Verse
There’s a television in the window
Of a house nobody owns
Soft lights dancing on the curtains
Like somebody’s still at home
And the sprinkler hits the sidewalk
Every morning right at five
Funny how the little things keep going
When the big things don’t survive
Verse
I saw a man outside the drugstore
Counting quarters in his hand
He had a picture in his wallet
Of a kid beside the sand
He looked up like he might tell me
How the whole thing went astray
Then the light changed at the corner
And we both just walked away
Chorus
We leave the porch light burning
We leave the radio on
We keep a key to an old door
Long after the house is gone
Maybe hope is just a habit
Maybe love is one too
Maybe all the things we leave on
Are the things that pull us through
Verse
There’s a waitress at the diner
Who still calls everybody “dear”
She says the town is getting younger
But the young don’t stay around here
There’s a photograph behind her
From the summer of ’89
She says, “Lord, we thought we knew something”
Then she laughs and pours the wine
Chorus
We leave the porch light burning
We leave the radio on
We keep a key to an old door
Long after the house is gone
Maybe hope is just a habit
Maybe love is one too
Maybe all the things we leave on
Are the things that pull us through
Bridge
I used to think that getting older
Meant you finally understood
Why the bad days come so easy
Why the good ones feel so good
Now I think you just get better
At letting questions ride
Like a coat there in the back seat
You don’t need, but keep inside
Verse
Tonight the moon is on the freeway
And the exits come and go
There are people headed somewhere
There are people headed home
And I don’t know what I’m after
Like I swore I used to know
But there’s something in the distance
And I still want to see it glow
Chorus
So leave the porch light burning
Leave a little music on
Keep a key to some old doorway
Even if the door is gone
Maybe hope is just a habit
I’ve been lucky to hold onto
Maybe all the things we leave on
Are the things that see us through
Outro
Yeah, the things we leave on
When we don’t know what else to do
