[Hook: raw-throated female MC, battle-rap bark, the taiko thundering under every line] Give 'em enough rope, let 'em talk it till they choke Give 'em enough rope, every word another joke Every inch they take from me, I'm loanin' it, you hear Give 'em enough rope, and I'm takin' it back from here [Verse 1: raw-throated female MC, heavy half-time, every bar a shove] Longshore picnic by the river, there's a keg and there's a tent And the day-shift boys are flexin' like they own the whole event Nine years champs, and Sully anchors with a neck like a mooring post Every August he lifts the trophy, every August he makes a toast They see the night crane sign the sheet, and the whole tent starts to roar "Give the girls some rope," he says, "they never pulled a thing before" Honey, I swing forty tons of box at three A.M. in sleet I been pullin' more than you since you were learnin' how to eat So go on, laugh it up, Sully, get it all off of your chest 'Cause I'm tyin' this around my waist, and you can watch the rest [Hook: the taiko thundering] Give 'em enough rope, let 'em talk it till they choke Give 'em enough rope, every word another joke Every inch they take from me, I'm loanin' it, you hear Give 'em enough rope, and I'm takin' it back from here [Verse 2: harder, the sub bass rolling] Bernadette's up front, she's got the hands of a bricklayer's dream Tash and Big Rosa in the middle, and Ines is the steam Me in back, the anchor, rope around me like a belt Every eye on that red ribbon, every heel dug in the dirt And they're grinnin' at the whistle, and they're wavin' at their wives Sully blows a kiss at me, the worst mistake of his life Ref says, "Take it up," we take it up, the rope goes hard as steel And I can feel nine grown men leanin' back on every heel [Verse 3: the taiko crescendo, louder every bar while the rope locks] Thirty seconds, nobody moves, the rope is hummin' like a wire Forty seconds, Sully's purple, and my shoulders are on fire Fifty seconds, Rosa's slippin', and he hollers, "Give it up" So I listen to him, finally, and I give the man enough Three feet of slack at once, I step in, and the rope goes loose Nine men sit down in the mud like somebody cut a noose Then we haul, and haul, and haul, before they find their feet And they slide across the ribbon on the seat of their defeat Sully's sittin' in the river with the mud up to his chin You said give the girls some rope, and look who got reeled in [Hook: everything in, the taiko slamming] Give 'em enough rope, let 'em talk it till they choke Give 'em enough rope, every word another joke Every inch they take from me, I'm loanin' it, you hear Give 'em enough rope, and I'm takin' it back from here [End]
