Secondhand Skin

[Verse 1]
My collar holds the ghost-smoke from a pack of Kools he lit.
July 12th, 1977, the air was wet grit.
He was all loose change and promises on the Con Ed substation roof,
Tracing the city's nervous system, looking for the proof.

[Chorus]
(Second vocalist, ethereal)
I remember the weight of a body I don't know
I remember the city just before the lights would go

[Verse 2]
He met a girl who worked the switchboard, name of Caroline.
"Don't worry, we got time," he said, tracing her spine.
His key was a bent dime he'd use to jimmy the service door,
Said he was wiring the whole damn block for something more.

[Chorus]
(Second vocalist, ethereal)
I remember the weight of a body I don't know
I remember the city just before the lights would go

[Bridge]
Now your shoulders are squared inside me on the uptown 2 train's hum.
The ghost in my woolen threads is waiting for a world that never comes.
His name is just a stain now, on the tag above the heart.

[Outro]
A flicker in the weave. A promise of the dark.