[Verse 1: Doo-wop singer-rapper male lead, rapping hard on the 12/8 over huge live drums and upright bass] Millbrook in October, and the lot behind the field Pickups backed in rows with all the tailgates down and peeled I was four years old in a jacket to my knees Larks down nine to one, and the wind took all the leaves Old men foldin' lawn chairs like they're foldin' up a flag Mama's thermos empty and the cooler in a bag Somebody up front said it, and the whole lot said it too Two words like a password that the whole town knew Learned it 'fore my letters, learned it 'fore my name Every fall the same, and every fall it's still the same Forty-one Octobers that we lost it at the wire And forty-one Octobers that we kept the little fire [Hook: Doo-wop lead sung big, backing harmonies, strings lifting on the last line] Fold the lawn chairs, Benny, let the parkin' lot clear Shoo-bop, hold your head up, we'll get 'em next year Forty-one Octobers that this town's been standin' here Hold on, hold on, we been livin' on next year [Verse 2: Doo-wop lead, the strings rising behind the bars, drums pounding] Then the mill shut down, and the diner shut its door Half the street moved south, and the church don't fill no more But October came around and he was standin' in the lot Borrowed lawn chair, borrowed coat, the only thing he got Larks down two in the ninth with a runner on the line Struck out lookin', and he said it, and it sounded fine Shoo-bop, every year we said it like a vow Losin' was the only thing that kept the town somehow 'Cause a team that never wins is a thing that you can share And next year was the only place that all of us were there [Hook: Doo-wop lead sung big, backing harmonies, strings lifting on the last line] Fold the lawn chairs, Benny, let the parkin' lot clear Shoo-bop, hold your head up, we'll get 'em next year Forty-one Octobers that this town's been standin' here Hold on, hold on, we been livin' on next year [Verse 3: Doo-wop lead, last-out chord, the fly ball hangs on drums and harmonies, then everything lands] Forty-second fall, and we're up one in the ninth Two out, and the whole lot standin' in a line Crack, and it's a fly ball, high above the lights Hangin' like the town's been hangin' forty-one nights Comin' down to center, and the kid in center's set Glove up, eyes closed, I ain't breathin' yet Pop, and it's in there, and the lot goes still Nobody knows the words for winnin', never had the skill Benny climbs the tailgate, and he looks at all of us Tears down his face, and he's grinnin' through the rust Says next year, and the whole lot screams it in the cold Same two words, but now they mean again, and they're gold [Final Hook: Doo-wop lead, everything, harmonies and strings wide open] Fold the lawn chairs, Benny, let the parkin' lot clear Shoo-bop, hold your head up, we'll get 'em next year Forty-one Octobers that this town's been standin' here Hold on, hold on, we been livin' on next year [End]
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