Tenants On the Bedrock

Intro
(Fingerpicked acoustic guitar, faint pedal steel swell, warm tape hiss)
​[Verse 1]
The hardware store on Fourth Street closed its doors in ninety-eight
Now it’s a yoga studio behind a wrought-iron gate
I still keep my grandfather’s brass calipers in the drawer
Though nobody builds cabinets out of solid oak anymore
We measure time in software updates and expiring leases
While the things meant to outlive us get sold off in pieces
​[Pre-Chorus]
And the maples on the ridge don't care who owns the deed
They just drop their amber leaves on the concrete and the weeds
​[Chorus]
Oh, we’re just tenants on the bedrock, borrowing the view
Painting over plaster walls to make the old look new
You can’t outrun the rust, love, no matter what you spend
Everything we’re building here is meant to bend
Yeah, the river doesn't hurry just to reach the sea
It just carves a deeper canyon out of you and me
​[Verse 2]
You found a box of postcards from a trip to Santa Fe
Written in a cursive that nobody reads today
We spent all Sunday afternoon clearing out the shed
Found a jar of copper pennies and a spool of heavy thread
It’s funny how a lifetime fits inside a cardboard box
While we’re staring at the glowing screens of synchronized clocks
​[Pre-Chorus]
And the granite underneath us doesn't shift or bend
It just waits out every season till the seasons end
​[Chorus]
Oh, we’re just tenants on the bedrock, borrowing the view
Painting over plaster walls to make the old look new
You can’t outrun the rust, love, no matter what you spend
Everything we’re building here is meant to bend
Yeah, the river doesn't hurry just to reach the sea
It just carves a deeper canyon out of you and me
​[Bridge]
(Pedal steel solo over steady brushed snare and upright bass)
Let the mortar crack
Let the cedar gray
The only things we get to keep
Are the things we give away
​[Guitar Solo]
(Warm, melodic telecaster clean-tone solo, 8 bars)
​[Chorus]
Oh, we’re just tenants on the bedrock, borrowing the view
Painting over plaster walls to make the old look new
You can’t outrun the rust, love, no matter what you spend
Everything we’re building here is meant to bend
Yeah, the river doesn't hurry just to reach the sea
It just carves a deeper canyon out of you and me
​[Outro]
(Instruments drop out to solo acoustic guitar)
Just borrowing the view
Carving out a canyon out of you and me
(Final resonant acoustic chord fades out)