[Intro] One tick Then nothing I wait for the second [Verse 1] A tick inside the floorboard The water in my cup draws one ring Then lies flat again I've explained away a hundred The pipes, the traffic, the heat Most things shake once and quit I wait to see if this is one [Pre-Chorus] The ones that die don't come back The ones that stay keep time Hold your breath between the two The same stillness, twice [Chorus] Ripple Then the second, right on the beat Nothing threw it in It's pushing from beneath Not all of them stay small This one kept the count [Post-Chorus] One finds another Now they're two [Verse 2] Last year's tremor wandered Spent itself against the wall No two silences alike A thing with no pulse goes slack Now the cup walks toward the edge Slow, then slower, then on time My ribs have joined the tally Without asking my mind [Pre-Chorus] The ones that die don't come back The ones that stay keep time The stillness came back whole I stopped explaining it away [Chorus] Ripple Then the third, right on the beat Nothing threw it in It's pushing from beneath Not all of them stay small This one knew the floor [Electronic Breakdown] One drop Two drops Four Eight Sixteen Thirty-two I lose count [Build-up] Can you hear it Under the floor Not noise Something patient Learning my pulse It was never chance It was keeping time [Final Chorus] The ripple was a pulse The pulse became the tide Nothing threw it in Nothing here can end it Not all of them stay small I knew by the second Now I'm the water It moves through [Final Drop] One tick, a thousand ticks One sea [Outro] One tick Then another Right on time
