Close-Hauled Grin

[Verse 1]
The July sun on the loading dock's corrugated steel
Made the Allegheny River look like hammered peel.
You were listing hard to starboard, catching on the keel,
So I just turned my head to windward, and I didn't see you steal.

[Chorus]
And oh, we're running with a following sea!
Never learned to navigate by anything but need.
Got this close-hauled grin, a mouthful of salt and speed,
The only chart that matters is the one we won't concede.

[Verse 2]
Saw you at the Giant Eagle, week before last Christmas.
Your kid's got your same blue eyes, an ocean of forgiveness.
You gripped my arm and whispered, "Man, I never forgot this."
The silence was the anchor, and the harbor was the promise.

[Chorus]
And oh, we're running with a following sea!
Never learned to navigate by anything but need.
Got this close-hauled grin, a mouthful of salt and speed,
The only chart that matters is the one we won't concede.

[Bridge]
Some lines you draw in water, some you weld in steel.
The truest point of compass is the only thing that's real.

[Chorus]
And oh, we're running with a following sea! (Let the squall line break!)
Never learned to navigate by anything but need. (The tide is turning now!)
Got this close-hauled grin, a mouthful of salt and speed. (A different kind of break!)
The only chart that matters is the one we won't concede! (We made it anyhow!)

[Outro]
Yeah, we made it anyhow...
We made it anyhow...