Promises an Engine Can Break

Cole ran the pumps past the canyon grade
Grease on his knuckles and a rusted blade
Every Tuesday night at a quarter past two
Donna pulled up in an old dark blue
She'd buy ten dollars, sit against the floor
Hiding from the shadow by the canyon door

You don't need a map when you're on your own
Just a full tank of gas and a heart of stone
Let the dark roll in, let the thunder shake
Tell me how many promises an engine can break

He wiped down the glass while the radio played
Counted out the bruises that the summer made
He hid all his cash in a tire by the shed
Said run for the coast like you always said
She kissed his cold cheek when the sunrise burned
Swore she'd come back when the tide had turned

You don't need a map when you're on your own
Just a full tank of gas and a heart of stone
Let the dark roll in, let the thunder shake
Tell me how many promises an engine can break

Ten years of Tuesdays and the pumps grew dry
Cole watched the trucks under a hollow sky
Till the blue sedan came screaming through the dust
Steam from the hood in a cloud of rust
The driver door swung in the headlights' glare
A girl of nineteen with her mother's hair

She held out an envelope yellowed and damp
And Donna's gold ring by the service lamp
Said mama told me when the storm comes down
Find the man at the pumps who never left town

You don't need a map when you're on your own
Just a full tank of gas and a heart of stone
Let the dark roll in, let the thunder shake
Tell me how many promises an engine can break

Cole took the cash from the tire in the shed
Gave her the keys and he nodded his head
The blue car vanished where the desert bends
Out where the highway never ends