[Verse 1] You came out of the side door like the building owed you air Collar up, hair in your mouth, one button done wrong That red wool coat hit the porch light and stayed there And the whole month arranged itself around that cloth You had a paper cup and a laugh that did not ask permission You looked at me like I was weather you already knew I remember the stitch at the wrist more than the first conversation Because the stitch was honest And I was trying to be smooth [Pre-Chorus] You said don't make a thing of it I made a church You said it's just a coat I said sure [Chorus] That red wool coat Is still walking through my chest You can keep the photographs I kept the rest That red wool coat On a body that did not wait You turned a common color Into my favorite mistake [Verse 2] There was lint on the sleeve from a blanket in somebody's car There was a burn mark near the pocket you refused to explain You shoved your hands in deep like you were hiding a whole war And smiled like the war had weekends and a name I watched you from the curb like a man learning a language late Every movement was a lesson I would fail out loud You pulled the belt tighter when the wind came off the lake And I felt my whole future lean toward that wool [Pre-Chorus] You said stop staring I said I know You said it's cold I said don't go [Chorus] That red wool coat Is still walking through my chest You can keep the photographs I kept the rest That red wool coat On a body that did not wait You turned a common color Into my favorite mistake [Verse 3] I have seen you in other clothes in other cheaper years Navy, black, that green thing you swore was luck None of them did what the red one did to the air None of them taught a season how to sit and stay put People talk about eyes like that is where the hook lives For me it was the way the fabric held your shoulders back Like the coat had a better spine than I did Like it knew you And I was only catching up [Bridge] If you threw it out I would still know the weight If you gave it away I would still know the smell Smoke, soap, outside, and a little too late That coat did not keep you warm It kept me unwell I can be a grown man in a clean room And still lose the argument To a sleeve [Breakdown] Red In the doorway Red In the lot Red In the story you tell When you think I am not [Chorus] That red wool coat Is still walking through my chest You can keep the photographs I kept the rest That red wool coat On a body that did not wait You turned a common color Into my favorite mistake [Final Chorus] That red wool coat Do not tell me it was nothing I fell for a season Wearing something That red wool coat If you ever put it on again Leave the porch light burning And let me be the man I was then [Outro] Door slams Color stays I say your name Like a thread I cannot pull Without taking the whole coat With me
