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The Bay Don't Keep Score lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
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Intro
The light hits the water before the engines turn over The glass towers stand still against the pink and gold The question is already waiting on the balcony when I step out [No humming, clear articulation]
Verse 1
First time the key turned in the lock and the view opened up like it had been holding its breath for years The three voices started arguing before the coffee could cool on the marble counter One said the numbers lined up when the market should've buried the whole deal in red One said the call came at the exact minute the other guy at the table looked away One said the late nights rewriting every line of the contract was the only thing that kept the boat from drifting out But the water stayed flat and didn't pick a side The salt air found its way inside the glass anyway and stuck to the skin like it belonged there The city below looked smaller than it ever did from the street level where I used to stand
Chorus
The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score
Verse 2
The nights the phone stayed face down on the marble and the only light came from the buildings across the bay glowing quiet The chair across the table stayed empty even when the wire finally cleared and the number hit the account Friends who used to split every tab started sending the bottle with a note that didn't need a reply The discipline was saying no to the money that came with a rope already tied around the ankle and the neck Luck showed up in the form of a canceled flight that forced the meeting in person instead of the email chain Skill was the one who stayed up until the numbers made sense at four in the morning with the city asleep below Timing knew when to stop talking and let the silence do the heavy lifting on the close But the cost was the version of me that used to answer every call without checking the number or the hour first
Chorus
The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score and it never will
Verse 3
The window at night shows three versions in one silhouette against the city lights One got lucky with the right introduction at the right table One stayed when everybody else went home and the lights went out one by one One waited for the market to turn and caught the wave when it finally did But when the buildings across the water go dark and the reflection is all that's left It's hard to tell which one is still standing on this side of the glass The man in the window looks like he belongs here The question is whether he still recognizes the hands that signed the papers
Verse 4
New faces at the marina bar know the slip number but not the nights the tide almost took the whole thing They laugh at the jokes that ain't funny and call it networking like it's a new language The handshakes last a second too long and the eyes already calculating what the relationship is worth One offer came with a favor attached that would've sunk the next three deals if I had said yes Another one smiled like we were old friends when we both knew the only thing we shared was the address on the building The fear ain't losing the money or the view The fear is waking up one morning and realizing the version that got here wouldn't recognize the one that stayed Every new number in the phone feels like another anchor dropped in the water that I didn't ask for
Chorus
The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score
Verse 5
The kid stands on the same balcony now with the sunrise hitting his face the same way it hit mine He asks how I got the view and I don't give him the easy answer the three voices want me to tell I tell him the three voices still argue some mornings when the light hits the water just right But the water never joined the conversation and it never will I put the key in his hand and tell him the dock don't care about the story you tell yourself at night It only cares if you know how to tie the rope when the wind picks up and the tide starts pulling The view is borrowed time The work is what you pass down when the light changes The three can take it back any morning they decide the story don't add up anymore
Outro
The light hits the water before the engines turn over The glass towers stand still against the pink and gold The question is still on the balcony when I step back inside
Inside the recording
The light hits the water before the engines turn over The glass towers stand still against the pink and gold
The bay don't keep score on how you got here The bay don't keep score on how you got here
The light hits the water before the engines turn over The glass towers stand still against the pink and gold
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.