Hello Stranger

Erica Neely

Hello Stranger

Copyright ©2003 by Erica Neely
Lyrics posted by permission of the author

He liked to ride down the long empty roads –
No one for miles; he was all alone
Until he saw her at the crossroads ahead;
He stopped to help her and she gratefully said:

“Hello stranger, would you give a girl a ride?
It’s getting late and it’s cold tonight.
I’ve gotten lost – I can’t find my way home.
Oh please don’t leave me out here on my own.”

He’d heard the rumors – they were all over town,
Of guys gone missing with no trace ever found.
He looked her over – nah, it couldn’t be her –
She looked too earnest, looked too sweet and demure…

“Hello stranger, would you give a girl a ride?
It’s getting late and it’s cold tonight.
Why hesitate – are you frightened of me?
What kind of threat could I possibly be?”

He jerked his head and she climbed up behind.
Couldn’t see her smile, couldn’t see in her mind.
He gunned the engine and they went on their way –
Rode into darkness that would never see day…

“I am the darkness, I am the night,
I am the hunger burning.
I claim your body, I claim your soul,
I claim you for my own.

I feed on passion, I feed on fright,
I feed on others’ yearning –
This is my nature, this is my role,
This is all I’ve known.
This is all I’ve known.”

She is the hunter – we are her prey,
She’s gone for now but will be back someday.
She says her lines and we swallow them whole
She’s got an angel’s face but got a devil’s soul…

“Hello stranger, would you give a girl a ride?
It’s getting late and it’s cold tonight.
I’ve gotten lost – I can’t find my way home.
Oh please don’t leave me out here on my own.”

So listen stranger, never give that girl a ride.
She’s out there waiting and she’s hungry tonight –
Don’t talk to strangers when you’re out on the street;
When darkness comes you don’t know who you’ll meet…
When darkness comes I know just who you’ll meet.