[Intro: plucked strings ticking like swim strokes over a floor tom, then the drums hit] [Verse 1] Midnight at the harbor wall, the water's black Grease on my shoulders and a light clipped to my back Twenty-one miles, and there's nothing to hold My brother in the boat with the tea going cold I'm swimming from a kitchen where I made myself small From a man who laughed and said I'd never leave the wall They greased me at the slipway at ten to twelve Said, nobody finishes, honey, so pace yourself Every stroke's a word I didn't get to say Every breath I take is a lock that gave way [Chorus] I'm in open water Nothing to grab and nothing to hide Every stroke I take is mine And I'm not swimming back to the side [Verse 2] Jellyfish across my arm like a whip of light Brother says, get in the boat, I say, I'm alright Shipping lane at three, a tanker like a town Wake rolls over me, and I don't go down I used to think that brave meant you don't shake I'm shaking like a flag, and I don't break My arms are made of rope, my mouth is full of salt The quiet was a cage, and it wasn't my fault [Chorus] I'm in open water Nothing to grab and nothing to hide Every stroke I take is mine And I'm not swimming back to the side [Bridge: the strings stop being plucked and the whole section bows, floor toms doubling] Then the sky goes gray at the edge of the sea And a line of white cliffs coming out to meet me Twelve hours swimming from the kitchen and the man Now I'm swimming toward a beach where I can stand [Verse 3] Gulls on the rocks, and the water turning green Brother in the boat, yelling like I'm seventeen Every muscle screaming, and I'm nearly done I was swimming from a man, now I'm swimming to someone Twenty yards, then ten, and my feet find stone First thing I ever stood on that was all my own And my mother's on the beach in the coat that I know She's been waiting all night, and she's not letting go [Final Chorus: full bowed strings and pounding drums] I'm in open water Nothing to grab and nothing to hide Every stroke I take is mine And I'm swimming to the other side Sand under my knees and the tide going out Brother in the boat, and I hear him shout [Outro: bowed strings and drums, one last hit] Twenty-one miles, and I'm standing in the sun Every stroke I took was mine, every single one [End]
