Permeable Pavement

[Verse 1]
The fluorescents hum in the Safeway on Grand,
Week rent was due, you got your headphones on.
Your scuffed-up Vans do a two-step slide past the pasta aisle,
A temporary structure, just for a little while.

[Chorus]
And it's a beautiful design, this permeable pavement we're on,
Let the pressure seep right through until the feeling's gone.
A beautiful design, a fault line in the groove,
Nothing holding us up, but I'm still watching you move.

[Verse 2]
I'm counting quarters by the freezer case glare,
Smell of floor wax and refrigerated air.
You're reaching for the good olive oil, the one with the fancy glass,
And I have to be the one who lets the moment pass.

[Instrumental Breakdown]
(Lush disco strings get filtered, chopped, and sent through a dub delay. The funky bassline becomes more melancholic, a lonely filtered guitar melody enters. The four-on-the-floor kick drops out, leaving a syncopated, hollow rhythm. The euphoria sonically decays.)

[Bridge]
You turn and smile, say "It's a grid, baby, find the beat."
But our foundation's sinking underneath our feet.
This load-bearing love is a column built on sand.

[Outro]
We leave with the generic brand.
The beat's all gone.