Canning Season

[Verse 1]
The label on the Mason jars shines under the Findlay Market light
Your grandma's Sunday recipe, but the signature is mine tonight
You told me how the heat must rise, slow and steady for the brine
Now I'm just simmering alone in this new gilded life of mine.

[Chorus]
And this is the reduction, the sweetness and the cost
I boiled it all down for the flavor that I lost
Yeah, this is the reduction, a perfect, bitter prize
With the empty taste of victory served right before my eyes.

[Verse 2]
Remember in your kitchen, that last rainy Tuesday in July?
You said, "It's more than just the spices, it's the proof you even try."
My empty hands were reaching for a page I shouldn't take
A simple list of ingredients was a foundation I could break.

[Chorus]
And this is the reduction, the sweetness and the cost
I boiled it all down for the flavor that I lost
Yeah, this is the reduction, a perfect, bitter prize
With the empty taste of victory served right before my eyes.

[Bridge]
The sugar's crystallized and hard, the seal is vacuum-tight
Does your window still look out across the river late at night?

[Outro]
It's canning season again.
Did you change the recipe at all?