Smiling at Strangers on Trains Lyrics

It was the strangest thing today
I saw new footprints in abandoned pathways
Beneath forgotten undergrowth something stirring again
You were a single red blood cell
But i lost you in this knot of capillaries
But you were bringing me oxygen when i needed it most in the smoke.

And you were always

[Chorus]
As far as mongolia, as close as my clothes
Your presence pervading, but it still never shows
As close as the answer i never quite know, or can't quite remember
Your distance insidious, as soft as a blow
Your shadow is with me wherever i go
It's on the tip of my tongue but still i never quite know, or can't quite remember
I don't quite remember

The forced proximity of a million different mike leigh movies
Makes me long for the fresh air of a familiar face
And not the violence of loneliness, nor the unease of surrounded seclusion
I keep nearly missing you around corners and in passing trains

And if i'd known that you weren't so far away
That you were never that far away
I could've rode this train smiling.