Pins and needles waking up the fingers (Version 2)

Intro

Tap water running lukewarm on the tile

Count it back now

(back)

Verse 1

Steering wheel foam worn thin at nine and three

White-knuckle habits from an older century

Frost on the windshield biting through the vents

Spent four whole winters calculating rent

Just surviving in the shoulder of the highway lane

Counting down the exit signs through frozen rain (rain)

Had my jaw locked tight like a rusted hinge

Breathing through the static on the outer fringe

Coffee went cold before the steam could rise

Heavy coat zipped straight up to my eyes (eyes)

Numb to the touch, didn’t register the ache

Waiting for a fault line or a bridge to break

Then the heater coughed a little honey in the dash

Yellow filament glowing through the ash

First tiny prickle running down the bone

Sensation creeping back into the stone (stone)

Chorus

Pins and needles waking up the fingers

Morning air where the condensation lingers

I can feel the blood returning to the seam

Trading in survival for a waking dream

Circulation in the palms, heat across the skin

Took a long time letting all the feeling back in

(back in)

Circulation in the palms, heat across the skin

Took a long time letting all the feeling back in

Verse 2

Peeled a small clementine, fingernails orange

Creaking open slow like an ungreased hinge (slow)

Felt the citrus oil sting a paper cut

Glad for the sting, keeping eyes wide shut no more

Wool blanket scratchy on an unmade cot

Radiator clanking till the pipe turns hot (hot)

Used to run on diesel and a phantom spark

Pacing out the perimeter alone in the dark

Now the pulse at the wrist got a heavier thud

Thawing out the sediment inside the mud (mud)

Picked up the pen, wasn't shaking from the freeze

Bare feet resting on the maple floorboards, ease

Not running from the siren, not bracing for the crash

Spreading out the fingers on the window sash

Let the copper coin settle flat against the palm

Funny how the quiet isn't heavy, it's just calm (calm)

Chorus

Pins and needles waking up the fingers

Morning air where the condensation lingers

I can feel the blood returning to the seam

Trading in survival for a waking dream

Circulation in the palms, heat across the skin

Took a long time letting all the feeling back in

(back in)

Circulation in the palms, heat across the skin

Took a long time letting all the feeling back in

Bridge

No armor on the collarbone today

No flinching when the shadow rolls away (away)

The frost gives up its grip against the lawn

A slow river moving where the ice was drawn

I open both hands to the kitchen sink

Give myself the space to simply breathe and think

The warmth isn't borrowed, the blood is my own

Learning how to live inside the flesh and bone (bone)

Outro

Tap water warm

Ten fingers stretching out long

(long)

Circulation in the palms

Still warm

(calm)