Somebody Ask The Whale (collab w/PsychoTech)

[Intro - Joliet Jam Band, spoken] Ladies and gentlemen, have another special guest for you fine people tonight. We heard from HuntedGatherer earlier, and if any y'all see him, tell him his ride is here. But thanks to the very kind auspices of PsychoTeck arranging it, we're going to do a song with his friend, Rhett Cassidy. Rhett Cassidy everyone! [Rhett] You boys ready? [Joliet Jam Band] Ready. [Band settles into a slow groove] [Verse 1] We were standing by the water where the pilings leaned with age, Salt was drying on the ropes and gulls were arguing on the rail. Something rolled beneath the surface like a shadow turning pages, Then a low note crossed the harbor and somebody said, "A whale." I was halfway through a cigarette and halfway through a thought, Watching circles spread and disappear beneath the evening pale. Everybody started guessing what the hell it might have wanted. I said, Somebody ask the whale. [Chorus] Somebody ask the whale, somebody ask the whale. He's been down where we can't see and he ain't come up to tell. Somebody ask the whale, if he knows what this is for. We've been asking everybody else and getting nowhere anymore. [Verse 2] There was rust along the seawall and a bottle in the sand, Some old radio was coughing through a song from years ago. The water moved around us like it had another plan, And the moon came up behind us with nowhere else to go. Someone said the tide was changing, someone said we ought to leave, Someone else was sure the weather had a story it could tell. I watched something white go turning where the black water was breathing. I said, Somebody ask the whale. [Chorus] Somebody ask the whale, somebody ask the whale. He's been down where we can't see and he ain't come up to tell. Somebody ask the whale, what he heard beneath the tide. Maybe everything sounds different from the other side. [Instrumental - wah guitar, Hammond, low horns, distant harmonica] [Verse 3] I don't think he knows the answer. I don't think that matters much. Maybe he just keeps on moving because moving is enough. Maybe all that heavy water makes the little things look small. Maybe when you're underneath it, you don't hear the noise at all. There are questions on the shoreline people carry like a pail. Everybody wants a reason. Nobody asks the whale. [Bridge - half-spoken, band thins out] I used to think the world was hiding something. Some explanation. Some little door behind the weather. Then I got tired. Sat down. Watched the water. Heard that sound again. Low enough to shake the boards. And I figured... Maybe not everything down there is trying to come up. [Long instrumental breath] [Final Chorus] Somebody ask the whale, somebody ask the whale. He's been down where we can't see and he ain't come up to tell. Somebody ask the whale, if he knows which way is home. Maybe he just keeps on swimming because the water lets him roam. Somebody ask the whale, or maybe let him be. Some things don't need answering just because we want to see. [Outro - groove loosens, whale-like guitar swell] Something rolled beneath the surface. Something pale beneath the blue. I thought about asking one more question. Then I forgot what I knew. [Softly] Somebody ask the whale. [Final low horn chord / tape echo]