She said "I'm moving away, I'm gonna get what I want
I'm tired of these small town boys, they don't move fast enough
I'm gonna find me one who wears a leather jacket and likes his living rough"
So she saved her tips and overtime and bought an old rusty car
She sold most everything she had to make a brand new start
She said, "I won't be needing these silly dresses and nylon hose
Cuz when I get to where I'm going, I'm gonna buy me all new clothes"
The night's too long; it just drags on and on
And then there's never enough that's when the sun starts coming up
Don't let go of her hand; you just might be the right man
She loves the night; she loves the night
She doesn't want the night, don't want it to end
Don't want it to end
Well she works in an office now, and she guesses the pay's all right
She can buy a few new things to wear and still go out at night
And as soon as she gets home from work, she wants to be out with the crowd
Where she can dance and toss her head back and laugh out loud
Well, the music's playing faster and they just met
He presses up against her and his shirt's all soaked with sweat
And with her back against the bar she can listen to the band
And she's holding a Corona and it's cold against her hand
The night's too long
It just drags on and on
And then there's never enough
That's when the sun starts coming up
Don't let go of her hand
You just might be the right man
She loves the night
She loves the night
She doesn't want the night, don't want it to end
Don't want it to end
Don't want it to end
Lucinda Gayl Williams[a] (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, Ramblin' on My Mind (1979) and Happy Woman Blues (1980), in a traditional country and blues style that received critical praise but little public or radio attention. In 1988, she released her third album, Lucinda Williams, to widespread critical acclaim. Regarded as "an Americana classic", the album also features "Passionate Kisses", a song later recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter for her 1992 album Come On Come On, which garnered Williams her first Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1994. Known for working slowly, Williams released her fourth album, Sweet Old World, four years later in 1992. Sweet Old World was met with further critical acclaim, and was voted the 11th best album of 1992 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent music critics. Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it 6th on his own year-end list, later writing that the album, as well as Lucinda Williams, were "gorgeous, flawless, brilliant".
Williams' commercial breakthrough came in 1998 with Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, an album presenting a broader scope of songs that fused rock, blues, country and Americana into a distinctive style that remained consistent and commercial in sound. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, which includes the singles "Right in Time" and the Grammy nominated "Can't Let Go", became Williams' greatest commercial success to date. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA the following year, and earned her a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, while being universally acclaimed by critics. Williams' next album, Essence, appeared in 2001, to further critical acclaim and commercial success, becoming her first Top 40 album on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 28. Featuring a more downbeat musical tone, with spare, intimate arrangements, Essence earned Williams three Grammy nominations in 2002: Best Contemporary Folk Album, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the title track, and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the single "Get Right With God", which she won.
One of the most celebrated singer-songwriters of her generation, Williams has released a string of albums since that have earned her further critical acclaim and commercial success, including World Without Tears (2003), West (2007), Little Honey (2008), Blessed (2011), Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone (2014), The Ghosts of Highway 20 (2016), and Good Souls Better Angels (2020). Among her various accolades, she has won three Grammy Awards, from 17 nominations, and has received two Americana Awards (one competitive, one honorary), from 11 nominations. Williams ranked No. 97 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Rock & Roll in 1999, and was named "America's best songwriter" by Time magazine in 2002. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked her the 79th greatest songwriter of all time. In 2017, she received the Berklee College of Music Honorary Doctorate of Music Degree, and ranked No. 91 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time. In 2020, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road ranked No. 97, and Lucinda Williams ranked No. 426, on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. She was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in 2021. That same year, "Passionate Kisses" ranked No. 437 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
