[Verse 1: Tuareg desert-blues male lead, low hypnotic chant over heavy live drums and rolling handclaps] Baba put me on the camel when I wasn't even ten Said, "The phone will die, the map will lie, you'll need all this again Count your steps and read the dune lines, feel the wind across your face Find the star that never wanders, and it'll put you in your place" I was bored, I wanted water, I was starin' at the moon And he laughed and tapped my forehead, said, "You'll want this lesson soon" Now it's soon, and he's been buried by the well since early spring And I'm out in the Tenere with his saddle and his ring [Hook: Tuareg desert-blues male lead, full band] No map, no phone, just the count of my feet And the star that you showed me where the sand and sky meet I been steerin' by a dead man, and he's never once been wrong That's dead reckonin', Baba, and I'm reckonin' all night long [Verse 2: Tuareg desert-blues male lead, harder, overdriven desert guitar between the lines] Four nights out, the skins are light, the camel's walkin' slow Every dune's the dune before, and there's nowhere left to go And the grief comes up like a sandstorm, and it gets between my teeth Assouf, that's the word for it, the empty underneath Then I hear him sayin', "Count, boy," like he's walkin' at my side Thirty steps, then check the star, then thirty more, and let it guide So I count out loud in the dark like a fool who lost his head And I'm laughin' and I'm cryin', and I'm talkin' to the dead [Hook: Tuareg desert-blues male lead, full band] No map, no phone, just the count of my feet And the star that you showed me where the sand and sky meet I been steerin' by a dead man, and he's never once been wrong That's dead reckonin', Baba, and I'm reckonin' all night long [Verse 3: Tuareg desert-blues male lead, needle settles, the guitar wanders and then locks onto one note on the star] Sixth night, I see the fires of the camp out on the rise And I swear the star I followed had his grin and had his eyes Every lesson that I yawned through is the rope that pulled me in Every tap upon my forehead was a well dug deep within They ask me how I found it with no signal and no chart I said, "Somebody did the reckonin' and left it in my heart" Tenere, keep his body, I'll be carryin' the rest Thirty steps, then check the star, Baba, I'm headin' west [Final Hook: Tuareg desert-blues male lead, full band] No map, no phone, just the count of my feet And the star that you showed me where the sand and sky meet I been steerin' by a dead man, and he's never once been wrong That's dead reckonin', Baba, and I'm reckonin' all night long [End]
