The stories behind Kansas City After Hours

• Kansas City After Hours Sits With the 2 a.m. Page — A laid-back soul groove follows one on-call technician chasing a loose connection through the small hours, coffee in hand.

Lyrics

The pager coughed at quarter past two

A little red light saying someone needs you

Down in the repair shop, coffee gone cold

A stubborn little mystery refusing to fold

The night nurse said it quit when the ward got still I said machines have

time and then they always will I hung up my coat, tied my laces

tight And asked that sleepy trouble to explain itself tonight

Kansas City after hours working where the quiet

bends with a wrench in one hand

and a notebook full of friends we chase the

fault through every clue careful as a tiller's seam till the first shift turns the corner and the

green green lights start to gleam.

Kansas City after hours, let the river keep its pace.

There's a little bit of music in a well -repaired place.

I checked the power, checked the ground, checked the cable in the wall, found

three honest answers and one that lied about them all.

Then June came through the doorway with two cups and a grin, said I brought the strong

stuff your machine can't win.

We laughed at my scribbles, we circled the trays, the problem hit politely

in a hard to reach place.

A loose connections small enough to miss but proud as a mayor when

it's causing all this

Kansas City after hours

Working where the quiet bends

With a wrench in one hand

And a notebook full of friends

We chase the fault through every clue

Careful as a tailor's seen

Till the first shift turns the corner

And the green lights start to gleam

Kansas City after hours

Let the river keep its pace

There's a little bit of music in a well -repaired place

Tested once for safety

Twice for truth Write down every

reading Like a promise kept in proof

No shortcuts in the shadows

No guesswork dressed in pride

Good hands make a difference

When somebody needs that side

At 5 .07,

the final check came clean

Every signal steady, every number where it should have been

June raised her paper cup like a trumpet in the hall I said tell the

morning crew the patient's standing tall we signed the little service sheet put the

tools away the sunrise found the windows wearing silver gray and

somewhere in the hospital a quiet system ran because two tired night mechanics

did the best work that they can

Kansas City after hours

Working with the quiet bands

With a wrench in one hand

And a notebook full of friends

We chased the fault through every clue, careful as a tailor's seam, till the first shift

turned the corner and the green light started to gleam.

Kansas City after hours, let the river keep its pace.

There's a little bit of music in a well -repaired place.

Coffee, copper, patience, light.

A small victory Before daylight

Kansas City after hours

We keep the whole thing right