"Is this the train to Desert Moon?" was all she said
But I knew I'd heard that stranger's voice before
I turned to look into her eyes, but she moved away
She was standing in the rain
Trying hard to speak my name
They say first love never runs dry
The waiter poured our memories into tiny cups
We stumbled over words we longed to hear
We talked about the dreams we'd lost, or given up
When a whistle cut the night
And shook silence from our lives
As the last train rolled towards the dune
Those summer nights when we were young
We bragged of things we'd never done
We were dreamers, only dreamers
And in our haste to grow too soon
We left our innocence on Desert Moon
We were dreamers, only dreamers
On Desert Moon, On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon, Desert Moon
I still can hear the whisper of the summer night
(How)1 It echoes in the corners of my heart
The night we stood and waited for the desert train
All the words we meant to say
All the chances swept away
Still remain on the road to the dune
Those summer nights when we were young
We bragged of things we'd never done
We were dreamers, only dreamers
Moments pass, and time moves on
But dreams remain for just as long
As there's dreamers, all the dreamers
On Desert Moon, On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon, Desert Moon
1live version only
The South Shore Line ran trains from Chicago to South
Bend, Indiana, where people could get away from the heat (air conditioning was not
really around in the 1960's) and relax in the woods, or by the lakes in the area.
It would be highly likely that when Dennis was a teenager he would go with a group of
friends on a short one hour train ride to the "Dunes of Indiana." While a place
called Desert Moon is probably fictional, moonlit nights on sand dunes probably
was a strong influence for a song that looks back at youthful memories.
More information about Chicago's South Shore Line can be found at:
http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Chicago/SouthShore/
A print of an old Chicago Transit advertising poster for the South Shore Line called Midnight In Duneland
can be found at:
http://www.chicagotogo.org/moonindun.html