[Verse 1: Dark-pop female alto lead, low and heavy over the massive half-time live drums] Five in the morning at the yard and the third rail humming Coffee in the cab and the black tunnel coming Hand on the handle like they taught me on day one If you let go, the train stops, every car, every ton Seven years I drove the line from the Bronx to the beach And seven years with you, always just out of reach You were cold on the platform and cold in the bed And I kept on holding on like the handbook said [Pre-Chorus: Dark-pop female alto lead] Everybody says the strong thing is to grip Everybody's wrong about this [Chorus: Dark-pop female alto lead] My hand is on the dead man's switch Every station, every shift, I've been holding this They taught me in the yard what the handle's for Let go and it stops, so I'm not holding anymore [Verse 2: Dark-pop female alto lead, the distorted sub bass pressing] You never asked about the tunnel, never asked about my hands Never asked about the nights I came home too tired to stand You'd be scrolling at the table while I told you how it went Every word I ever gave you was a paycheck badly spent And I'd grip a little harder every time you looked away Like the holding was the loving, like the holding made you stay Knuckles white on the handle, knuckles white on the ring Seven years of holding on to a long-gone thing [Pre-Chorus: Dark-pop female alto lead] Everybody says the strong thing is to grip Everybody's wrong about this [Chorus: Dark-pop female alto lead] My hand is on the dead man's switch Every station, every shift, I've been holding this They taught me in the yard what the handle's for Let go and it stops, so I'm not holding anymore [Bridge: Dark-pop female alto lead, brake hiss, she opens her hand and the air brakes hiss for a full bar under her] So I open up my fingers And I feel the brakes take hold Every car behind me shudders And the whole line stands still and cold [Verse 3: Dark-pop female alto lead, full weight, the dark guitar drones wide] Doors open on the platform and I walk out of the cab Leave the ring on the console like a ticket and a tab It's the safest thing they built in, and it never made a sound When the driver's gone, it stops the train before it hits the ground [Final Chorus: Dark-pop female alto lead] My hand is on the dead man's switch Every station, every shift, I've been holding this They taught me in the yard what the handle's for Let go and it stops, so I'm not holding anymore [End]
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