Tensile Grace

[Verse 1]
The S-Bahn rattles on the Marienbrücke steel,
Last warm week of August, the rust looks too real.
Down below, a kid with a can in his hand,
On the old freight yard concrete, making his stand.
The smell of aerosol and the damp evening air,
A perfect straight line drawn without any care.

[Chorus]
He draws a new line on the shear wall,
A kind of tensile grace to brace the fall.

[Verse 2]
That jacket’s too thin for the wind off the Elbe.
"It's solid ground," you said to me once.
And I see your blueprints in his teenage hunch,
Another foundation with a hairline crack to shelve.

[Chorus]
He draws a new line on the shear wall,
A kind of tensile grace to brace the fall.

[Bridge]
And for a second I just want to scream,
Let his scaffolding hold up the whole damn scene.
Let this one thing stand. Just this one thing.

[Chorus]
He draws a new line on the shear wall,
A kind of tensile grace to brace the fall.

[Outro]
The train pulls away.
A new line on the wall.