Tomorrow's Smoke

[Verse 1]
The heat off the Rouge plant hung different on the sill
That last Saturday in July '67, before the city got ill
Oh, sleeping Detroit, I'm praying back through time
To the smell of cut grass and Faygo, just before the first siren chime

[Chorus]
And tomorrow's smoke, it ain't got no name yet
(Call: No name yet)
Just a ghost on the water, a city's quiet bet
(Response: A quiet bet)

[Verse 2]
Saw Mr. Henderson wiping dust from his Fleetwood's chrome fin
We were talking about the Tigers, the good fight they were in
"This humidity," he said, "feels like it's holdin' its breath."
And we laughed under a sky that didn't know a thing about death

[Chorus]
'Cause tomorrow's smoke, it ain't got no name yet
(Call: No name yet)
Just a ghost on the river, a city's last regret
(Response: Last regret)

[Bridge]
Was it root rot in the pavement nobody saw grow?
A slow, burning dormancy waiting for a stone to throw?
(Call: A stone to throw)

[Chorus]
And tomorrow's smoke, it ain't got no name yet
(Call: No name yet)
Just a ghost on the water, a city's quiet bet
(Response: A quiet bet)

[Outro]
(False ending: music fades to near silence for 3-4 seconds)

(Coda: music returns, sparse and atmospheric)
Just the hum of the fridge, a single porch light on the street
The whole world breathing in, on the edge of the heat...