[FOUR FIDDLE HARMONICS] One. [BANJO] Two. [BANJO] Three. [BANJO] Four. [UPRIGHT SLIDES DOWN] [THUMP — THUMP — THUMP — THUMP] [VERSE 1] Four birthdays. Four seasons. Four different roads. June heat. July rain. January cold. Gemini. Cancer. Capricorn. Cancer again. Nothing about 'em Should've needed To rhyme in the end. Then somebody Turns the wheel— Wait. Run that back. Twenty-three... And change. Another one— Twenty-three... And change. Third one. Same neighborhood. Fourth— [BEAT CUT] Well I'll be damned. [PRE-CHORUS] Nobody planned it. Nobody knew. Four little fires Standing damn near On the same little groove. [CHORUS] TWENTY-THREE AND A HALF! Right there in the light. Four suns Crowding one little line On four different nights. Does it mean something? Hell if I know. But I can love the pattern Without telling the pattern Where it has to go. TWENTY-THREE AND A HALF! Look— Then let it be. Wonder gets beautiful When wonder Don't owe me Certainty. [FIDDLE PHRASE] [LES PAUL ANSWERS] [VERSE 2] Two stand close Like shoulder to shoulder. Same neighborhood. Almost sharing the flame. One looks back From across the whole wheel— Mirror in the distance Calling nobody's name. Another leans From the neighboring sign, Close enough For the numbers to make you look twice. And that's where The mind gets hungry. That's where wonder Starts asking For advice. Nah. Easy. Look first. Name what you see. Don't make the coincidence Promise you What it doesn't mean. [CHORUS] TWENTY-THREE AND A HALF! Right there in the light. Four suns Crowding one little line On four different nights. Maybe there's something. Maybe there's not. Either way That's one hell Of a beautiful spot. Twenty-three and a half. Look— Then let it breathe. I don't need To turn amazement Into something I believe. [VERSE 3 — POCKET GETS FILTHIER] So I ran the numbers. Numbers said— Interesting. Something around One in a thousand For a cluster this tight. Okay. Now check me. Because that's where This gets good. Did I pick the people randomly? No. Then say it Like I should. Did I search one thing Or several things Before the pattern appeared? Several. Good. Did every birth time Come carved in stone? Nope. One gets less precise When you look too near. So don't sell me A miracle By hiding What makes it weak. If the pattern's worth my wonder, It can survive Me learning How to speak. [PRE-CHORUS] Give me the awe. Give me the doubt. Give me the beautiful thing— Then turn The pockets Inside out. [CHORUS] TWENTY-THREE AND A HALF! Still there in the light. I checked it harder And somehow I still like What I find. I don't need destiny. I don't need proof. Sometimes four little numbers Are enough To make me Look at the roof. [BRIDGE — HOUSE KICK STOPS] [HAMMERED DULCIMER — FOUR NOTES] VOICE: So what does it mean? COSMIC: Don't know. VOICE: Then why do you care? COSMIC: Because I noticed. VOICE: Could it be chance? COSMIC: Yep. VOICE: Could there be more? COSMIC: Yep. VOICE: Those can't both be true. COSMIC: Why not? [BOOT] VOICE: You gonna call it a sign? COSMIC: No. VOICE: You gonna call it nothing? COSMIC: No. VOICE: Then what do you call it? [UPRIGHT BASS] COSMIC: Interesting. [LES PAUL BEND] VOICE: That's it? COSMIC: That's enough. [FOUR-ON-THE-FLOOR RETURNS] [VERSE 4] Funny thing— My own sun Ain't standing there. Aquarius, Ten and change, Somewhere else In the air. And I fucking love that. 'Cause if I wanted Me inside it, I could move the lines Until I got there Then pretend I didn't guide it. No. Leave me out. Let the numbers Keep their shape. Maybe being the witness Means you don't Need center stage. I can stand Outside the picture, Still amazed At what I found. You don't have to Own a pattern Just because You wrote it down. [FINAL CHORUS] TWENTY-THREE AND A HALF! Four fires in the night! Four suns On one thin step— And me Off to the side! Maybe it's meaningful! Maybe it's chance! I can hold Both possibilities In the same Two fucking hands! TWENTY-THREE AND A HALF! Look— But don't make it kneel. I can question What it means Without questioning What I feel. [MUSICAL WTF] [FIDDLE — MOTIF 1] [BANJO — MOTIF 2] [LES PAUL — MOTIF 3] [DULCIMER — MOTIF 4] [THE FOUR PREVIOUSLY SEPARATE PHRASES LOCK INTO ONE CHORD] COSMIC: Oh... That's interesting. [OUTRO] Twenty-three. [THUMP] And a half. [THUMP] Keep the wonder. [THUMP] Keep the math. [THUMP] Look. Test. Learn. Don't force the path. [VOICE] And if you never figure out What it means? COSMIC: Then I still got To see it. [FIDDLE HARMONIC] [END]
