[Intro: organ skank, guitar chop] Dented lid and a thermos that leaks Pass it down the line when the whistle speaks [Verse 1: male] Monday they locked the gate and they handed us a sheet Said the contract talks were stuck and we should keep our feet I brought a lunch pail older than the shift I had been given She sat on the curb with an apple and a look like she was driven I said, half my sandwich if you spare a little shade She said, half my apple if your thermos is not delayed We ate like strangers who had practiced being kind Strike day one and already I was losing track of time [Pre-Chorus: both] Whistle in the distance that we choose not to obey Lunch pail on the concrete like a flag we raise today [Chorus: gang vocals] Lunch pail, lunch pail Dented but it holds Lunch pail, lunch pail Stories in the folds Share the bread and share the quiet and do not say what it means Strike week turns a curb into a place between the scenes Lunch pail, lunch pail Metal in the sun Lunch pail, lunch pail Two become one [Verse 2: female] Tuesday she brought crackers and a joke about the boss Wednesday I brought oranges and a story I had lost Thursday rain came sideways and we sat beneath a truck Passed the pail like contraband and laughed until we stuck She asked me if I voted yes and I asked her if she cared We both said yes and then we sat there breathing the same air Somebody on the line yelled that love was for the weak We pretended not to hear it with an apple in each cheek [Pre-Chorus: both] Whistle in the distance that we choose not to obey Lunch pail on the concrete like a flag we raise today [Chorus] Lunch pail, lunch pail Dented but it holds Lunch pail, lunch pail Stories in the folds Share the bread and share the quiet and do not say what it means Strike week turns a curb into a place between the scenes Lunch pail, lunch pail Metal in the sun Lunch pail, lunch pail Two become one [Bridge: horns, trade lines] Friday they settled and the gate swung open wide We stood up like the curb had never held us side by side She handed back the pail and said, thanks for all the half I said, anytime, and felt the sentence split in half We punched back in and never spoke the word that would have stuck Some dates are a lunch pail and a week of borrowed luck [Verse 3: both, unison then split] Months later at the break room she sits two seats away I bring the same old pail and I leave an orange on her tray She smiles like a secret that the contract never bought I smile like a strike week that the paperwork forgot [Final Chorus: gang vocals, horns] Lunch pail, lunch pail Dented but it holds Lunch pail, lunch pail Stories in the folds Share the bread and share the quiet and do not say what it means Strike week turns a curb into a place between the scenes Lunch pail, lunch pail Metal in the sun Lunch pail, lunch pail Two become one [Outro: organ skank fade] Dented lid and a thermos that leaks Pass it down the line when the whistle speaks
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