Tarot · Track 26 · middle
Five of Wands
RWS: five youths swinging staves at one another under an open sky, no blood, no ranks, half of it might be a game. Keywords: scrappy competition, noise, conflict with no real enemy, friction that sharpens, everyone shouting at once.
No audio yet — generation pending.
Lyrics
[Intro] Listen to the racket. Listen to the crack. [Verse 1] Somebody brought five lengths of untreated pine Out to the gravel by the property line Under a totally empty, idiot-blue sky We’re kicking up the dirt from every possible side Nobody is bleeding, nobody keeps the score But everybody's shouting till their throats run warm I’m swinging at a shadow, you’re aiming for my knees We’re just beating the hell out of the breeze. [Chorus] Cross the stick! Block the swing! Every man a captain, nobody to blame It’s a tangled-up canopy of elbows and wood We’re getting absolutely nowhere, but it feels like we should Sparks in the friction, heat in the fray We’re just trying to carve out a little bit of space. [Verse 2] Look at the footwork, look at the mess of shoes One guy in work boots, one in canvas blue Seventeen minutes just arguing the bounds Before we even started on the actual ground You say I went early, I say you swung fast We’re building up a fire just hoping it'll catch There isn’t any enemy, there isn’t any prize Just the stinging in the palm and the sweat in the mind. [Chorus] Cross the stick! Block the swing! Every man a captain, nobody to blame It’s a tangled-up canopy of elbows and wood We’re getting absolutely nowhere, but it feels like we should Sparks in the friction, heat in the fray We’re just trying to carve out a little bit of space. [Bridge] The brain wants a pattern, a villain to fight A reason the left hand crosses the right But we’re just a knot of ambition and pride Hitting the center from every damn side Nobody drops out, nobody caves in We’re too busy proving we know how to begin Which we don't. [Chorus] Cross the stick! Block the swing! Every man a captain, nobody to blame It’s a tangled-up canopy of elbows and wood We’re getting absolutely nowhere, but it feels like we should Sparks in the friction, heat in the fray We’re just trying to carve out a little bit of space! [Outro] Yeah, carve out the space. Hold your ground. Swing again.