Metal Fatigue

[Verse 1]
The five-o'clock shadow of the Myrtle Bank Hotel
Crept across the hot dust on Water Lane.
The air thick with molasses and salt off the wharf,
And the friction building between us again.

[Chorus]
This is the shear point, the human torque.
The hairline crack that you can't ignore.

[Verse 2]
You traced the rim of a Red Stripe bottle with your thumb.
"'The tolerances are gone,' you said, not looking at me."
A gantry crane groaned, lifting some final load.
January thirteenth, nineteen-ought-seven, you see.

[Melodica Solo]

[Bridge]
All that noise, all that wear.
Just a worn-out bearing now, turning in the air.

[Outro]
The last thing I remember is the heat from your palm.
Then the silence.