Like some night bird homeward wingin
He seeks the sheltered nest
Like the sailor's lost horizon,
He needs some place to rest
The songs that he's been singin'
No longer make much sense
And those stranger's cold perceptions
They've killed his confidence

Nightingale, she sails away upon a sea of song
Nightingale, she serenades his lonely, lonely life along
When his tired voice is broken
His golden hope is gone
She makes a lost soul's simple longing
somehow not so wrong
Nightingale, nightingale

He was strong, but he was taken
By the thought of his success
Those spotlights shadows
How they lured him and took him like all the rest
But that old dream don't look good now
No it don't seem quite the same
He needs to hear a tender word
Won't you sing him home again

Nightingale, she sails away up on a sea of song
Nightingale, she serenades his lonely, lonely life along
When his strength is slowly going,
His pride is all but gone
She makes a foolish dreamer listen to one last song
Nightingale ooh sing sweet nightingale
Oh, na, na, na, na
Nightingale ooh sing sweet nightingale