Squat Party at the Cotton Docks

Lyrics

[VERSE 1]
Generator humming behind the broken pane
Boombox borrowed, a folding table, a candle and a stain
Sampson Street ain't shiny in the year of two-thousand-one
The cotton docks are sleeping but the floor's already begun

[CHORUS]
Squat party at the cotton docks, the rails behind the brick
Eight hundred bodies on a Tuesday, every kick is a kick
Mint Gallery spilling, the painters all in black
We pay the breaker bill in beer cans and we never look back

[VERSE 2]
A keyboard on a milk crate, a kid in mesh and tulle
A trumpet from the church a block down sneaking in cool
The Beltline isn't built yet — just a rail spur and a hum
And the train horn at three a.m. is part of every drum

[BRIDGE]
Before the lofts had elevators
Before the words "co-work" and "wellness center"
We held the night together with extension cords and faith
And the brick remembered every face

[CHORUS reprise]
Squat party at the cotton docks, the rails behind the brick
The asphalt that the fire made, we all of us got slick
We danced on top of cinders, we kissed beneath the hum
And the building stood and watched us — knew exactly what we'd become