black shirt, fresh trim, Friday night confidence

meeting at the station underneath the departures list

five lads deep, one speaker, one plan

acting like the city got built for us in advance

first bar, first round

girls laughing near the window

one mate's already saying

he's found "the one"

for the sixth time this month though

flash of a wristband

flash of a camera light

flash of somebody's name

already lost to the night

and London's spinning

faster than the record does

we were night bus royalty

champagne dreams on lager money

talking like tomorrow

was a place we'd never see

all those borrowed neon moments

burning brighter than they should

kings of nowhere for a few hours

thinking life was understood

VIP booth packed out

somebody's standing on the seat

one girl's telling stories

that nobody can hear above the beat

phone full of blurry photos

everybody pointing at the sky

like we discovered something new

hidden above the city lights

last club shuts

nobody wants the night to end

so we walk for miles

having conversations we'll forget again

laughing at nothing

laughing at everything

twenty years old

feeling richer than kings

and London's glowing

like it knows we're leaving soon

we were night bus royalty

champagne dreams on lager money

talking like tomorrow

was a place we'd never see

all those borrowed neon moments

burning brighter than they should

kings of nowhere for a few hours

thinking life was understood

top deck

central line still sleeping

sun coming through dirty glass

one mate's snoring

someone missed their stop

again

phone slips slowly

off the seat

hits the floor

nobody notices

until an old woman says

"love, I think that's yours"

and suddenly

it's morning

we were night bus royalty

now the city looks different

same streets

same stations

but the spell has disappeared

all those borrowed neon moments

still living somewhere in my head

between the clubs

the girls

the buses

and the things we never said