[Verse 1] The sink coughed twice at a quarter to two Mama laid one hand on the porcelain moon Coffee pot waiting with its mouth open wide Somebody knocked from the other side Down at the shed where the green lights blink A night man watched the numbers think Pressure held steady, then it leaned like a drunk Under every house ran a whisper in the trunk [Pre-Chorus] We built our mornings on a promise in the pipe Turned the little silver cross and trusted it for life Then the pumps heard a stranger The pumps heard a stranger [Stop-time Break] [Beat of silence] [Chorus] The pumps heard a stranger down under the town Hands on the water where no hands should be found We said, who's in the wire, who's at the well Who's teaching our faucets to ring like a bell The pumps heard a stranger, but we heard them too Now we stand by the tower till the night turns blue [Verse 2] Not a tank in the street, not a boot on the stair Just a ghost in the panel and a charge in the air All the quiet machinery we never thanked Started singing like chains in the concrete bank Old men came out with flashlights and keys Women filled jugs under backyard trees Nobody panicked, nobody bowed We counted every valve and we said it out loud [Call and Response] Lead: Who keeps the water? Group: We keep the water. Lead: Who owns the well? Group: We own the well. [Chorus] The pumps heard a stranger down under the town Hands on the water where no hands should be found We said, who's in the wire, who's at the well Who's teaching our faucets to ring like a bell The pumps heard a stranger, but we heard them too Now we stand by the tower till the night turns blue [Sparse Breakdown] One clear drop in a steel cup One red light trying not to give up One town awake with its ear to the floor One more lock on the control room door [Bridge] If the war comes quiet, let the quiet learn our name If the dark comes wired, let it find no open chain We are not the password, we are not the prey We are hands on the cutoff, eyes on the gauge [Full band slam back in] [Final Chorus] The pumps heard a stranger down under the town Hands on the water where no hands should be found We said, who's in the wire, who's at the well Who's teaching our faucets to ring like a bell The pumps heard a stranger, but we heard them too Now we stand by the tower till the night turns blue [Outro] Turn the tap, hear the warning Guard the well before the morning
