Linen and Slag

[Verse 1]
The Kohler faucet ran without a sound.
That July I was seventeen, first time on high ground.
Air smelled like lemons and cut-pine cleaner,
and the water in the glass didn't taste like the river.

[Chorus]
And I saw how the other half breathes
In houses built on quiet money leaves.
And for a second, man, I felt the ease,
A kind of peace like a sweet disease.

[Verse 2]
I scrubbed the tile by the basement drain,
wiped my hands on my jeans, left a rust-colored stain.
She smiled and said, "You're a real hard worker, son."
Didn't ask where I was from, or what my daddy'd done.

[Bridge]
Felt the porcelain vein in my trembling hand,
A little hairline crack in the promised land.
Saw a hundred years of their family name,
And a flicker of me in the window pane.

[Chorus]
And I saw how the other half breathes
In houses built on quiet money leaves.
And for a second, man, I felt the ease,
A kind of peace like a sweet disease.

[Outro]
Just the sound of it shattering on the slate.
And the long, quiet drive back through the front gate.