[Verse 1: Jim White]
Three A.M. I'm awakened
By a sweet summer rain
Distant howling of a passing
Southbound coal train
Was I dreaming
Or was there someone just lying here beside me in this bed?
Am I hearing things?
Or in the next room
Did a long forgotten music box just start playing?

[Pre-Chorus: Jim White and Aimee Mann]
And I know
It's a sin putting words in the mouths of the dead
And I know
It's a crime to weave your wishes into what they said
And I know
Only fools venture where them spirits tread
'Cause I know
Every word, every sound bouncing 'round my head

[Chorus: Jim White and Aimee Mann]
Is just static on the radio
Static on the radio
Static on the radio
Static on the radio
Static on the radio
Everything I think I know is just static on the radio
Static on the radio
Everything I think I know is just static on the radio
[Verse 2: Jim White]
Midnight rendezvous
With a pretty girl
Wearing a torn and tear-stained gown
Like a ghost ship she appeared from nowhere
On a lonely highway and flagged me down
I gave her a lift downtown to the Greyhound station
Under the flicker of the neon light
She kissed me goodbye
And in the mirror of her eyes I saw my own reflection

[Pre-Chorus: Jim White and Aimee Mann]
And I know
The blind will sometimes lead the blind
And I know
Through shadowlands and troubled times
And I know
Forsaking love, we see it's a sign
And I know
Of truths forever hid behind

[Chorus: Jim White and Aimee Mann]
Static on the radio
Static on the radio
Static on the radio
Static on the radio
Static on the radio
Everything I think I know is just static on the radio
Static on the radio
Everything I think I know is just static on the radio
[Interlude]

[Verse 3: Jim White]
Now there's a church house
About a stone's throw down
From this place where I been staying
It's Sunday morning
And I'm sittin' in my truck
Listening to my neighbor sing
Ten years ago I might have joined in
But don't time change those inclined
To think less of what is written
Than what's wrote between the lines

[Pre-Chorus: Jim White and Aimee Mann]
'Cause I know
Dreams are for those who are asleep in bed
And I know
It's a sin putting words in the mouths of the dead
'Cause I know
For all my ruminations I can't change a thing
Still I hope
There's others out there who are listening

[Chorus: Jim White and Aimee Mann]
To the static on the radio
Static on the radio
Static on the radio
Everything I think I know is just static on the radio
Static on the radio
Ain't praying for miracles, I'm just down on my knees
Static on the radio
Listening for the song behind everything I think I know
Static on the radio
Everything I think I know is just static on the radio
Everything I think I know is just static on the radio