[Resonator guitar] Da-DUM Da-da-DUM [Boot heel] [Male Blues Voice] I can build you a shelter But I can't make you stay I can stand at the gate But I better Leave a way [Beat drops] [Female Rap-Sung Voice] See That's where it gets interesting You like foundations I like windows You see weather Start reinforcing I feel walls Start getting close You say Baby I'm protecting I say Protecting me from what? 'Cause love ain't love If every open door Gets quietly boarded up I need motion Need choice Need room Need voice Need somewhere I can disappear Inside my head Without somebody hearing noise And I can love you Without becoming you I can choose us And still choose me If you built this thing Because you love me Then build it So I can breathe [Slide guitar answers] [Chorus - Male] Gate ain't a cage If it opens both ways Home ain't a prison If you're free enough to stay I can hold the roof You can hold your name I'll protect what we're building But I won't Protect it From change [Female] That's more like it [Resonator riff] [Male Blues Voice] See I learned love A different way Count the heads Check the door Storm starts rolling I start thinking What the hell Do we need more? I see cracks I bring a hammer See the dark I strike a flame If somebody threatens What I love Something old Wakes in my veins [Female Rap-Sung Voice] And I love that Till I don't That's the line That's the joke I want a man Who gives a damn Not one whose damn Becomes a rope You want truth? Here's truth Sometimes I run Before I know Sometimes freedom Is my courage Sometimes freedom Is how I go Sometimes you Can overbuild Sometimes I Can under-say Sometimes neither one's the villain We're just scared In different ways [Beat stops] [Male] Well damn. [Female] There it is. [Chorus - Both] Gate ain't a cage If it opens both ways Home ain't a prison If you're free enough to stay [Male] I can hold the roof [Female] I'll hold my name [Both] We'll protect what we're building But we won't Protect it From change [Harmonica / chopped slide break] [Female - faster flow] You're the count-every-head Make-a-plan Draw-a-line Stand-your-ground I'm the feel-every-shift Read-the-room Need-the-air Move-around You say Where are we going? I say Can we just drive? You want something Built for tomorrow I need something That feels alive But here's the strange part Your roots Don't scare me It's forgetting I can leave And maybe my road Doesn't scare you If you know I can still choose Where it leads [Male Blues Voice] Girl That's a hell of a thing [Female] Yeah Write it down [Bridge - boot heel only] [Male] I don't need you smaller To stand beside me [Female] I don't need you weaker To let you guide me [Male] I don't need obedience [Female] I don't need escape [Male] Then what the hell Do two people like us need? [Silence] [Female] A gate. [Resonator hit] [Male] A gate? [Female] A gate. [Beat begins] Something that says This matters Without saying You can't go Something strong enough To protect us Open enough To let us grow [Male] Then I'll build that. [Female] No. [Male] No? [Female] We'll build it. [Massive beat] [Final Chorus - Both] GATE AIN'T A CAGE IF IT OPENS BOTH WAYS HOME AIN'T A PRISON IF YOU'RE FREE ENOUGH TO STAY [Male] I'll hold the roof [Female] I'll hold my name [Both] We'll protect what we're building And still Let it Change [Female] You watch the weather [Male] You watch the room [Female] You keep the fire [Male] You keep the windows [Both] And if we ever Build a kingdom There'll be doors In every wall [Male] Nobody owns the Empress [Female] Nobody owns the Emperor [Both] That's why We can stand This tall [Resonator riff] Da-DUM Da-da-DUM [Female] Leave it open. [Male] Always. [End]
