[Verse 1: Cretan mantinada male lead, proud couplets over stomping drums and lyra] He came up in a rental car, a white one, freshly washed With a folder full of pictures and a smile that never stopped Said, "Kalós órises, my friend," he learned it on the plane Said he'd put a hundred villas where my father's goats remain He talked about the money and he talked about the view He talked about the airport and the jobs that would come through I let him talk the whole way down the bottle on the table Then I said, "Ela, I'll drive you back as far as I am able" [Hook: Cretan mantinada male lead, full band, lyra riding the drums] Every sign up on this mountain says to yield Every one of them is shot clean through the steel Only two things that this rocky ground will yield It's the thyme, and it's the men who never kneel [Verse 2: Cretan mantinada male lead, lower, laouto driving] We passed the sign for Anogia, it's got a hundred holes We passed the sign that says "Slow Down," it's mostly air and bolts He laughed and asked me, "Hunters?" and I didn't say a thing I just drove a little slower so he'd hear the metal sing Every sign from here to Chania looks like lace beneath the sun 'Cause up here we read the signs, my friend, and answer every one [Verse 3: Cretan mantinada male lead, colder, drums stomping] He asked me who had shot 'em and I told him, "No one knows Same as no one ever knew which road the last surveyor chose" He laughed a little thinner and he held his folder tight And I pulled up at the Yield sign at the bottom, on the right It's the one with the most holes in it, a sieve of rust and red I said, "Read it slowly, friend," and that was all I said Opa, he read it slowly, then he read it once again Then he drove down to the airport and he caught the evenin' plane [Hook: Cretan mantinada male lead, full band, lyra riding the drums] Every sign up on this mountain says to yield Every one of them is shot clean through the steel Only two things that this rocky ground will yield It's the thyme, and it's the men who never kneel [Breakdown: Cretan mantinada male lead, lyra saw, the bow grinding across the riff like a blade on a whetstone] Ela, ela, read it slow Every hole is somebody who said no Ela, ela, read it twice Up here we only say it once, and we don't say it nice [Final Hook: Cretan mantinada male lead, full band, stomping] Every sign up on this mountain says to yield Every one of them is shot clean through the steel Only two things that this rocky ground will yield It's the thyme, and it's the men who never kneel [End]
