[INTRO — instrumental, stomping upright bass, distant sax] [VERSE 1 — agitated, tight] The words are in my throat like a fish bone (fish bone) Forty years of knowing him and I can't phone Them in — I love you, son — three little words My father never said and I never heard And I swore I'd be different — and I am, mostly I show up, I fix things, I stay close — he knows me By my actions — that's what men like me do We say it with a socket wrench, we say it with a stew But the boy moved to Portland and the wrench don't travel And the calls got shorter and the silences unravel So tonight I practice in the kitchen like a fool I love you, son — to the coffee maker — smooth I love you, son — to the dog — he wags, no help I love you, son — to the mirror — there it is, the self That wants to say it right — not too heavy, not too fast Like it's nothing — like it's been here all along — at last [HOOK — cracked, half-yelled] Out loud, out loud (say it) Three little words and the throat's a crowd Out loud, out loud (say it) My father couldn't — I can — say it loud (out loud) [HOOK — cracked, half-yelled] Out loud, out loud (say it) Three little words and the throat's a crowd Out loud, out loud (say it) My father couldn't — I can — say it loud (out loud) [BRIDGE — bass only, voice bare] He says it back easy — like kids do Like it was always lying on the table Forty years I carried it like a stone Turns out it was a key the whole time [VERSE 2 — whisper cracking up to yell] I dial — it rings twice — he answers with a hey We talk about his job, the rain, the Mariners game And I feel it coming like a train around a bend And the call's almost over and I'm losing it again Then he says alright, well — and I say: wait — And the word hangs there like a man at a gate I love you — I just — I should say it more There — said it — now the kitchen's not a kitchen anymore It's a chapel — it's a courtroom — it's a whole new land And there's silence on the line — and the silence takes my hand Then he laughs — a little wet — says took you long enough And I hear my father's silence finally giving up [OUTRO — sax note fades over brushes] (out loud...) Same time next week, kid Love you — see, it gets easy
