(Hey)

He was eighteen and wasted
Bedroom in the basement
Parents' house, Tuscon, Arizona
What do you expect from a high school diploma?
Workin' hours in the shoe store
Sellin' dimes out the back door
And he puts on his prom crown
Says to his mama, "I'm the king of this town"

Won't you take me out?
I hear the midnight streets a-callin'
You can hold me down
But like a bird, I'm just free-fallin'

Here's to these American nights
We're havin' the time of our lives
Livin', dreamin', feelin', never sleepin'
'til we see the mornin' light
On these American nights (Hey)

(Hey)
Neighborhood kid just back from the desert
Tattoo and a discharge letter
Va, in the St. John
Six times a week, he still sleeps with his boots on
She skipped track up to Brooklyn
With a dream and some tanned skin
Graveyard at the rhino
This is the place where the stars shine, ya know? (Hey)

Won't you take me out?
I hear the midnight streets a-callin'
You can hold me down
But like a bird, I'm just free-fallin' (Hey)

Here's to these American nights
We're havin' the time of our lives
Livin', dreamin', feelin', never sleepin'
'til we see the mornin' light
On these American nights (Hey)

(Hey)
These American nights
These American nights (Hey)

The sky's black in November
And nothin' good lasts forever
Twelve gauge heart in a machine gun town
Whole life runnin', ya can't stop now

Here's to these American nights
We're havin' the time of our lives
Livin' on a feelin', got a feelin' that it's gonna be alright
On these American nights (Hey)

These American nights
These American nights (Hey, hey)
These American nights
These American nights (On these American nights)