[Verse] I came here clean — I came here sure — I walked in with a sentence that fit I would like you to know that if this late room ever thinned — the ice, the second man laughing into his sleeve, the bass through the wall — I was open to saying the exact line I practiced on the walk over [Pre-Chorus] [Other Man] Say it soft, say it loud Say it through the crowd Say it wrong, say it proud Write it, waste it, chase it, taste it — [Verse] [Singer] I need to say this once — There's two of us stuck at the edge of this room And I swear I meant something simple Then the bass took the consonants out of my mouth and left — [Chorus] hippocampus Lean with it, run with it Hum with it, dumb with it Tongue with the drum till the drum says hippocampus (and the declaration dies in the kick) I meant — [Verse] [Other Man] You want my version? Fine — He wasn’t breaking, he was staging Whole room loud, him at the frame Like he’d booked the doorway for a set I heard a joke with the consonants kicked out A list that never meant to land I thought he was warming up the crowd He says he walked in with a sentence that fit From where I stood he walked in with a grin And a word he liked the shape of better than the truth — hippocampus Like a punchline he forgot to aim So no — I didn’t catch a plea I caught a show that lost its nerve mid-bow If he meant something else, the bass ate the proof [Singer] I said keep doing that? Or I said let me finish? Don’t rewrite me while the room is listening I had a point — a pretty good point — You could’ve let me get to that [Pre-Chorus] [Other Man] Mm — [Chorus] hippocampus hip-uh — hippocampus [Crowd] hippocampus [Singer] Put it back — right where — Wait — where was I? [Bridge] Coats on the chair, door half-open Night doing that last-song lean I told you this wasn’t anything That I could walk out alone and mean it — Pretty clean exit if you’d let me finish — But I’m still here tasting the wrong word And the room already owns the better one [Chorus] [Crowd] hippocampus [Singer] I was asking if you’re leaving — [Crowd] hippocampus [Singer] If you’re leaving — [Crowd] hippocampus [Singer] Leave the noise — leave it with me — Or don’t — just don’t make me pretend I came here clean [Outro] [Crowd] hippocampus hippocampus [Singer] What was I trying to declare? [Other Man] …yeah. That. [Singer] The honest line dies mid-mouth For the prettier unfinished sound [Crowd] hippocampus [Singer] I meant you — (and the kick takes the rest) ```
