Track Insight / Lyrics
Forty years I watched the beam
Cut through fog and harbor dream
Now these fingers chase the pitch
On a corner paved with grit
Sidewalk temperament, cold, true
Each brick a key I'm tuning to
The wire snaps, the autumn breaks
I hold the note my hands can't make
Rhodes hums low through basement glass
Walking bass on bricks will pass
Muted horn cries blue and low
While I turn the pins too slow
Sidewalk temperament, cold, true
Each brick a key I'm tuning to
The wire snaps, the autumn breaks
I hold the note my hands can't make
Leaves pile up on C-sharp wire
Burning smoke and tuning fire
October eats the sustain long
I hum the note, but it goes wrong
Sidewalk temperament, cold, true
Each brick a key I'm tuning to
The wire snaps, the autumn breaks
I hold the note my hands can't make
Lighthouse keeper knows the sound
Metal cries beneath the ground
No lantern here to guide the way
Just brick and wire, gray on gray
Salt air taught me how to listen
Wind through glass, a constant glisten
City swallows all the sound
Nothing left but brick and ground
Dawn cracks open on Charles Street
Walking bass and brass repeat
Final chord rings clean and bare
Nothing left to tune but air
Sidewalk temperament, cold, true
Each brick a key I'm tuning to
The wire snaps, the autumn breaks
I hold the note my hands can't make
Final pin turns loose and free
Sidewalk temperament, just me
