Grease pops on the flat-top steel
Coffee burns the midnight wheel
Tugboat hull bakes rust-red sand
No ocean here to understand
Landlocked tug behind the sign
Rust blooms slow on borrowed time
Santa Fe don't need no sea
Just you and me and gravity
Piñon smoke curls through the screen
Motel sign stays crisp and clean
Propeller locked in adobe dust
Piston heart has lost its trust
Landlocked tug behind the sign
Rust blooms slow on borrowed time
Santa Fe don't need no sea
Just you and me and gravity
Eggs flip slow on carbon steel
Regulars know the daily deal
That boat's a joke the owner told
Before the money went all cold
Landlocked tug behind the sign
Rust blooms slow on borrowed time
Santa Fe don't need no sea
Just you and me and gravity
Harmonica breathes through the heat
Slide guitar sings bittersweet
No water left to pull or push
Just desert hush and desert blush
Keys hang quiet on the rack
No more customers coming back
Tugboat rests in rusted sleep
Promises the desert keep
Landlocked tug behind the sign
Rust blooms slow on borrowed time
Santa Fe don't need no sea
Just you and me and gravity
Anchor holds in sand and stone
We built a harbor called our own
Slide fades out on piñon wind
Kick drum thumps where tide begins
