The Naked Ride Home

<br>Just take off your clothes and I`ll drive you home I said<br>Knowing she never could pass on a dare<br>And knowing it sounded more desperate than reckless or bold<br>I just put it out there cold, too far gone to care<br><br>My eyes on the road, she slid herself down in the seat<br>And a vision of paradise swung into view<br>Across those five lanes not one driver glanced over to see<br>The beauty known only to me, and a big rig or two<br><br>On that freeway the light was receding<br>Her beauty, a sight so misleading<br>I failed to hear the heart that was beating alone<br>On the naked ride home <br><br>With the trace of a smile and that defiant look in her eye<br>She hurtled through space in a world of her own<br>And turning aside my caress spoke of all that she`d not yet done<br>As if I was the doubting one who would have to be shown<br><br>On that freeway the light was receding<br>Her beauty, a sight so misleading<br>I failed to hear the heart that was beating alone<br>On the naked ride home<br><br>She gathered her clothes <br>And ran through the yard in the dark<br>Up onto the porch like a flash, and inside<br>Then one room at a time <br>I watched every light in our house come on<br>Like the truth that would eventually dawn, <br>Forcing me to decide<br><br>But on that freeway the light was receding<br>Her beauty, a sight so misleading<br>I failed to hear the heart that was beating alone<br>On the naked ride home<br><br>Words and Music by Jackson Browne<br>(Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP)