GHOST KIN

[Verse 1]
Coffee grounds on the Gower Street floor, it's half past two.
Got the dollar-store broom in my hand, about to see it through.
But the air gets thick, a barometric dip I feel in my bones,
And I'm a kid again on sticky linoleum, hearing those old tones.

[Chorus]
Oh, Great-Grand Mary, is this your caution in my blood?
Or just the shadow of a levee waiting for a flood?
This California concrete don't know nothin' 'bout your river mud.

[Verse 2]
You'd be standing by the screen door, smell of chicory and rain,
Watching heat lightning spiderweb across the window pane.
Out here the only flash is traffic, headin' south on the 101,
And I can't tell if I'm holdin' on to you, or if I'm trying to run.

[Spoken Word Interlude]
(Filtered, distant voice like an old recording)
"Don't you sweep your luck out after the sun is down, son. That dust belongs to the house 'til morning."

[Chorus]
Oh, Great-Grand Mary, is this your caution in my blood?
Or just the shadow of a levee waiting for a flood?
This California concrete don't know nothin' 'bout your river mud.

[Bridge]
So the dust just sits, a tiny map of where I've been today.
A little bit of Echo Park I'm too afraid to sweep away.
And somewhere past the canyon, a train horn starts to moan.
Am I building a new house, or just haunted by my home?

[Final Chorus]
(Vocal shifts up a semitone)
Oh, Great-Grand Mary, is this your caution in my blood?!
Or just the shadow of a levee waiting for a flood?!
This California concrete don't know nothin' 'bout your river mud!

[Outro]
Your river mud...
Let it settle 'til the morning comes...