Lyrics
Verse 1
There's a red lantern swinging on a side-street doorWhere the rain hits the awning and the trains go byA painted tanuki grinning from the wooden signAnd a name in gold letters you can hear before you see the lightThey pour the highballs slow and the karaoke startsAnd the thunder in the title is the weather in your heart
Chorus
Tanuki ThunderLate-night JapanA stool by the windowAnd a glass in your handTanuki ThunderDon't ask you why you cameJust leave the storm outsideAnd remember your name
Verse 2
There's a mama at the counter who remembers every faceThere's a salaryman laughing like the year got awaySomebody's singing Mandy off the key and on the beatAnd the whole room holds him up like the song was theirs to keepYou can lose a little Tuesday in the ice and in the smokeYou can find it in the chorus when the cheap piano breaks
Chorus
Tanuki ThunderLate-night JapanA stool by the windowAnd a glass in your handTanuki ThunderDon't ask you why you cameJust leave the storm outsideAnd remember your name
Bridge
When the shinkansen is sleepingAnd the alley is a drumEvery stranger is a regularTill the morning finally comesIf you ever have to leave itYou will hear it in the rainThat little bar still thunderingAt the ending of the day
Chorus
Tanuki ThunderLate-night JapanA stool by the windowAnd a glass in your handTanuki ThunderDon't ask you why you cameJust leave the storm outsideAnd remember your name
Outro
Tanuki ThunderKeep the lantern onTanuki ThunderPlay it one more song