Forty Hands

Alternative hip-hop, afro-swing, pop-trap

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[Chorus]
Forty hands, one cut bottle,
scoop it up and pass it on.
Sea kept coming, so did we,
nobody bailed alone.
Forty hands, one cut bottle,
pass it on, pass it on.

[Verse 2]
Nine of us in one flat, and one jacket for interviews,
whoever's up on Monday wears it, sleeves rolled up or loose.
Half the wage goes back in digits that we tap into a phone,
same hands that passed the bottle, now they're holding up a home.
Papers stuck on someone's desk, they say come back in a few,
we did a whole night on the water, we can do a queue.
New ones stepping off the coach with the salt still in their shoes,
nobody asks where they're from, we just show 'em which bus to use.

[Chorus]
Forty hands, one cut bottle,
scoop it up and pass it on.
Sea kept coming, so did we,
nobody bailed alone.
Forty hands, one cut bottle,
pass it on, pass it on.

[Bridge]
Back home, on kitchen tables,
phones turned face-up on the wood,
tea gone cold beside them,
nobody saying "if" out loud.
Some of them buzzed by the morning,
some of them never did.

[Verse 3]
July, same sea, my papers sleeping safe inside a drawer,
ring on my finger, name above the door, fifteen on the floor.
Kids in armbands kicking at the waves like it's a game they've known,
trainers on, I let it lick the toes and leave the rest alone.
Then it climbs up through my chest, and there's salt on my face again,
only this time it's my own, half for every mile we came,
half for all the ones the sea kept and never gave to land,
and I'm wiping both with this, my bailing, signing, holding hand.

[Chorus]
Forty hands, one cut bottle,
scoop it up and pass it on.
Sea kept coming, so did we,
not everyone came home.
Forty hands, one cut bottle,
pass it on, pass it on.

[Outro]
Pass it on, pass it on…
nobody bailed alone...
nobody bailed alone.

2286/7500

[Verse 1] Engine coughing at the stern, we're folded knee into knee, every phone wrapped twice in plastic, every pocket full of sea. Mothers' numbers in black marker on the inside of our arms, saying them under our breath the way you count to keep calm. Hull takes on a little, then a little more again, someone sawed a bottle with a key and that became the plan. Scoop and pass it, scoop and pass it, nobody asked whose turn it was, forty strangers on the water, by the morning we were us. [Chorus] Forty hands, one cut bottle, scoop it up and pass it on. Sea kept coming, so did we, nobody bailed alone. Forty hands, one cut bottle, pass it on, pass it on. [Verse 2] Nine of us in one flat, and one jacket for interviews, whoever's up on Monday wears it, sleeves rolled up or loose. Half the wage goes back in digits that we tap into a phone, same hands that passed the bottle, now they're holding up a home. Papers stuck on someone's desk, they say come back in a few, we did a whole night on the water, we can do a queue. New ones stepping off the coach with the salt still in their shoes, nobody asks where they're from, we just show 'em which bus to use. [Chorus] Forty hands, one cut bottle, scoop it up and pass it on. Sea kept coming, so did we, nobody bailed alone. Forty hands, one cut bottle, pass it on, pass it on. [Bridge] Back home, on kitchen tables, phones turned face-up on the wood, tea gone cold beside them, nobody saying "if" out loud. Some of them buzzed by the morning, some of them never did. [Verse 3] July, same sea, my papers sleeping safe inside a drawer, ring on my finger, name above the door, fifteen on the floor. Kids in armbands kicking at the waves like it's a game they've known, trainers on, I let it lick the toes and leave the rest alone. Then it climbs up through my chest, and there's salt on my face again, only this time it's my own, half for every mile we came, half for all the ones the sea kept and never gave to land, and I'm wiping both with this, my bailing, signing, holding hand. [Chorus] Forty hands, one cut bottle, scoop it up and pass it on. Sea kept coming, so did we, not everyone came home. Forty hands, one cut bottle, pass it on, pass it on. [Outro] Pass it on, pass it on… nobody bailed alone... nobody bailed alone.

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