Lyrics
Verse 1
There’s a paper lantern buzzin’ over table fourAt the little ramen shop beside the hardware storeI come in every Thursday, same coat, same seatOrder miso with an egg and something cold to drinkTwo winters back, you stood there by the register lightHair tucked underneath your scarf, looking tired but kindI had a hundred easy questions, let ’em all go byWatched you take your bowl and disappear outside
Pre‑Chorus
Now I leave the door half open in my mindFor a hello I couldn’t find
Chorus
So I keep comin’ back to that old ramen shopWhere the broth runs hot and the evening traffic stopsIf you walk in, I swear I won’t just watch you goI’ll say, “Hey, I remember you,” and finally let you knowI don’t need some grand design or a perfect lineJust a second chance across a wooden table tonightYeah, I keep comin’ back, though I know it sounds oddFor a face I saw one time and a chance I left to God
Verse 2
The cook knows my order, laughs when I come throughSays I’m chasing ghosts; I tell him, “Maybe you”There’s a crack along the window shaped like a crooked roadAnd I trace it with my finger when the dinner rush gets slowI’ve dated other women, tried to make a lifeBut your quiet little smile still turns up every nightNot a lightning strike, not some movie sceneJust a stranger making room beside a vending machine
Pre‑Chorus
And every time that front bell ringsI look up like it means something
Chorus
So I keep comin’ back to that old ramen shopWhere the broth runs hot and the evening traffic stopsIf you walk in, I swear I won’t just watch you goI’ll say, “Hey, I remember you,” and finally let you knowI don’t need some grand design or a perfect lineJust a second chance across a wooden table tonightYeah, I keep comin’ back, though I know it sounds oddFor a face I saw one time and a chance I left to God
Bridge
Maybe hope is just a stubborn kind of hungerMaybe lonely hearts get older, not much youngerBut tonight the bell rings once, and I hear your voiceYou ask if this seat’s taken, like I’ve got a choice
Final Chorus
Now you’re sittin’ here at that old ramen shopWith your hands around the bowl while the whole world stopsI say, “Hey, I remember you,” and you smile like you knowThen you tell me you were hoping I would say helloNo grand design, no perfect line, no need to wonder whyJust two years late and right on time beneath that paper lightYeah, I kept comin’ back, and you finally came throughThe broth got cold, but I got warm sitting here with you
Outro
Same old shop, same wooden chairDifferent ending, you’re right thereI should’ve talked to you back thenBut I’m talking now, and you came back again