Track Insight / Lyrics
I hold the numbers, he holds the line
Dewey decimals fall like brine
His waders track mud on my steel floor
I've seen four thousand books and more
He casts a gaze down aisle nine
Where bound periodicals align
No tide chart here, no sonar ping
Just me and him and the safe's dull ring
Deep stacks, dark water, nobody knows
How a fisherman reads where the current goes
He hooks a volume, reels in the spine
I slide my drawer on greasy time
Deep stacks, we both belong down below
Microfilm reels spin like old spools
He reads the obits, breaks the rules
Coffee thermos sweats on my top shelf
He talks to the cards, talks to himself
He casts a gaze down aisle nine
Where bound periodicals align
No tide chart here, no sonar ping
Just me and him and the safe's dull ring
Deep stacks, dark water, nobody knows
How a fisherman reads where the current goes
He hooks a volume, reels in the spine
I slide my drawer on greasy time
Deep stacks, we both belong down below
His fingers smell like diesel, salt, and ink
He finds the wreck report, doesn't blink
The steelhead run of eighty-three
Is filed right next to poetry
The building breathes, the pipes all groan
He's got a boat, but he's got no home
I keep the names, he keeps the catch
We're both just waiting for the latch
Deep stacks, dark water, nobody knows
How a fisherman reads where the current goes
He hooks a volume, reels in the spine
I slide my drawer on greasy time
Deep stacks, we both belong down below
Dawn paints the windows, thin and gray
He folds his map, he starts his day
Returns the book, tips his hat to me
Same time tomorrow, catalog, same sea
Deep stacks, dark water, nobody knows
How a fisherman reads where the current goes
He hooks a volume, reels in the spine
I slide my drawer on greasy time
Deep stacks, we both belong down below
Deep stacks, we both belong down below
Fluorescent hum kicks off at three
Card catalog sleeps on open sea
