Nightwatchman
"Nightwatchman" is the 5th song on American Music Club's second album, 1987’s Engine. Mark Eitzel told Contrast that the song came to him one night sitting on the steps of his house in Ohio. "There was a stormy sky - the sky was beautiful. You look down from the sky and everything is stupid. Everything is a waste; everything is asleep and dead. And I looked up at the sky and it seemed like the sky was trying to say something to me. If nobody could hear the pain up there ,if there was nobody to witness, then the world is completely and utterly desolate."[1]
| "Nightwatchman" | |
|---|---|
|
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Engine cover | |
| Song by American Music Club from the album Engine | |
| Released | 1987 |
| Format | LP / CS / CD |
| Length | 4:49 |
| Label | Grifter Records/Frontier Records |
| Writer(s) | Mark Eitzel |
| Producer(s) | Tom Mallon |
| Engine track listing | |
| |
Lyrics
I remember how I let you down
Everything you say reminds me of the pain
How you lost your dignity
Passing in and out of a dream
Is there some secret I'm supposed to know
Is there some secret I'd always miss
'Cause there's no dignity when you have to live
Within the boundaries of a kiss
And the nightwatchman
Yeah he's asleep
Nightwatchman
Oh come on tell me what's wrong
Nightwatchman
Is the night too long
Is the same lie you gave me before
I don't care anything you say is just fine
I'll just sit and watch the traffic passing by outside
The will in the world it's the prevailing tide
You're supposed to watch the night as it passes by
You're never supposed to need anyone
'Cause once I knew the secret to happiness
I knew it once, oh but now it's gone
And the nightwatchman
Yeah he's asleep
Nightwatchman
I can't wake him up
Watchman
C'mon tell me what's wrong
Nightwatchman
Is the night too long
Video
Mark Eitzel performing "Nightwatchman" on July 24, 2010 at Heliogàbal in Barcelona, Spain.
Personnel
- Mark Eitzel - vocals, guitar
- Vudi - Lead guitar, backing vocals, accordion, keyboard
- Danny Pearson - bass guitar, backing vocals, mandolin, guitar
- Tom Mallon - guitar, backing vocals, percussion, producer
- Dave Scheff - drums
- Carla Fabrizio - cello
Also appears on
- Over And Done promo
- Johnny Mathis' Feet promo Live version
- 1984-1995
- The Ugly American Alternate version
References
- ↑ "American Music Club". Contrast. Winter 1988. Retrieved June 16, 2017.