[Verse 1: Mancunian-accented male MC, dry and close over heavy swung breakbeat drums] He says the record's got no heart, he says it's hollow at the core He says it like a fella who has been through it before But he never pressed play, I can tell it by the way he talks Like a man describin' Rome from the end of his own walk So I asked him, our kid, where'd you hear it, who's the source He said everybody's sayin' it, like that's a proper force I said name me one of everybody, one face, mate, just one And he looked at me like I'd asked him for the weight of the sun [Pre-Hook: Mancunian-accented male MC, bass guitar and kick, tight] He said he heard it off a lad, the lad heard off a friend Every story's got a middle, mate, but this one's got no end [Hook: Mancunian-accented male MC, full band, chopped guitar stabs] It's word of mouth, our kid, it's word of mouth That's how the good ones travel, that's how yours got out Nobody played it, nobody weighed it, nobody pressed It's word of mouth, and every mouth just borrowed from the rest [Verse 2: Mancunian-accented male MC, harder, rolling bass guitar] So I followed it back, pulled the thread off the jumper Found the lad who told him, at the bus stop in the thunder Said he got it off his cousin, who's a barman out in Salford Barman got it off a regular who sits there with the sports on Regular says his brother-in-law read it in a post And the brother-in-law can't tell a snare drum from a ghost Five mouths down the line and I'm askin' every one Did you hear it, did you play it, and they all say no, but son [Breakdown: Mancunian-accented male MC, chain link, one more drum joins on every line] Link one, the lad at the bus stop, never once pressed play Link two, his cousin at the bar, too busy anyway Link three, the regular, his eyes stuck on the match Link four, the brother-in-law, who read it in a batch Link five's the post, so I clicked on the post to see who wrote it And the name up at the top was the name of the man who quoted it [Verse 3: Mancunian-accented male MC, full kit, proper snarl] It was you, mate, three years back, half a pint and a phone You typed no heart at midnight and you posted it on your own Then it went round the houses and it came back through your door And you heard it off a lad and thought, that's true now, that's the law You're the source and the rumor and the fella passin' it on You're the whole of everybody, and the everybody's one Mine went round on a thousand mouths that pressed it and came back Yours went round on one mouth only, and it's yours, and that's a fact [Hook: Mancunian-accented male MC, full band, chopped guitar stabs] It's word of mouth, our kid, it's word of mouth That's how the good ones travel, that's how yours got out Nobody played it, nobody weighed it, nobody pressed It's word of mouth, and every mouth just borrowed from the rest [End]
