Verse 1

Down on Silver Lake in Fenton, where the weeping willows sway,

Dolores opened up her doors as the sun was fading away,

Smoke curled through the lower level, the open bar poured free,

And a little child sat on the steps just soaking in the melody.

Chorus

Oh, play it one more time boys, let the music fill the night,

Fiddles, steel and guitars ringing out beneath the light,

The wives all leaned together as the hours slipped away,

On the shores of Silver Lake where the good old people played.

Verse 2

Sonny grabbed his old guitar and the whole room came alive,

Belting out a cheating heart that made the rafters cry,

Johnny’s fiddle caught on fire with that Orange Blossom run,

And the whole room started moving ’till the song was finally done.

Chorus

Oh, play it one more time boys, let the music fill the night,

Fiddles, steel and guitars ringing out beneath the light,

The wives all leaned together as the hours slipped away,

On the shores of Silver Lake where the good old people played.

Verse 3

Then Leslie closed her eyes and Lord, she sounded just like Patsy,

Crazy floated through the smoke, so hauntingly and classy,

Don Green and Babe Trombly made the steel guitar just weep,

While Cliff and George on electric strings played melodies so deep.

Bridge

And ol’ Dick Williams blew that harp like only Dick could do,

Each bend and wail a story told beneath that sky of blue,

And Dolores kept the glasses full and the love around that room,

A mother, friend and hostess queen beneath the silver moon.

Verse 4

Now a child on those old wooden steps, wide-eyed in the glow,

Didn’t know that he was witnessing the greatest kind of show,

No stage, no fancy spotlight, just good people, song and soul,

Silver Lake was heaven-bound and music made it whole.

Final Chorus

Oh, they played it one more time boys, let the music fill the night,

Fiddles, steel and guitars ringing out beneath the light,

The wives all leaned together as the hours slipped away,

On the shores of Silver Lake where the good old people played.

Down on Silver Lake in Fenton… the music never dies,

I can still hear Leslie singing… beneath those Michigan skies,

I can still see Sonny strumming… Johnny’s fiddle crying free,

And Dolores at the center of it all… still smiling down at me.