Track Insight / Lyrics
At five the harbor holds its breath
Salt and coffee, smoke and death
One red lamp cuts the dark in two
A tugboat cough wakes up the blue
At five the red tugboat coughs awake
Coffee black beneath the plate
Boots hit boards with steady stride
One lamp swings where sailors wait
The grill still smokes from closing night
A silver fork escapes the line
I scrape the yolks from yesterday
The regular orders eggs all day
The night chef leans across the pass
His apron smells of diesel grass
A gull steals sugar from the stack
Rain taps glad against the glass
I pour the first cup strong and black
The harbor light crawls down the track
A midnight order, egg and toast
Then cold dawn at the crossing coast
Red tugboat, keep the engine low
Carry me where streetlights go
One horn cough across the bay
Before the blue drives night away
Red tugboat burning bright
Through the fog and half the night
Hold me steady, hold me slow
I got somewhere else to go
The baker rolls his sleepy cart
Two coppers slam into his heart
The mist climbs up the water tower
A buoy rings beneath the shower
The old cook laughs from window four
He swears the fog has come before
I flip the bacon, crack the shell
One short joke, then ring the bell
[Pre-
Gray hands turn the radio low
The eastern sky begins to glow
Another truck rolls through the door
The coffee pot pours one more
The river holds its steady blow
I hear the tugboat call below
Then day cracks wide upon the floor
And all the night comes knocking more
Red tugboat, keep the engine low
Carry me where streetlights go
One horn cough across the bay
Before the blue drives night away
Red tugboat burning bright
Through the fog and half the night
Hold me steady, hold me slow
I got somewhere else to go
Under ribs of rusted iron
We cross the harbor, nearly done
The diesel pounds beneath my feet
A heartbeat neither fast nor neat
Then silence cuts the engine down
A gold rim finds the sleeping town
The gangplank lands with one hard thump
My apron smells of salt and stump
The harbor master waves me through
A gull flies close with morning dew
The diner sign forgets its glow
The first bus leans into the road
My coffee breath is thin and white
A ferry answers left and right
Across the pier the last dish lands
The night shift breaks in both my hands
The red tugboat spits out smoke
A black cloud circles, woke or broke
Its little cabin holds one spark
Then rolls away before the dark
I wash the grill in soapy foam
The radio forgets the song
The bread goes stale beside the rack
The night crew trudges down the track
My busker tips the velvet tin
Another dawn begins again
Red tugboat, keep the engine low
Carry me where streetlights go
One horn cough across the bay
Before the blue drives night away
Red tugboat burning bright
Through the fog and half the night
Hold me steady, hold me slow
I got somewhere else to go
At dawn the red tugboat slips away
Its last brass bell begins to sway
The grill is cold, the coffee black
I count my coins beside the rack
One horn note rolls across the bay
And carries all this night away
