Kilderkin

Lyrics

The grand beasts take 2 men to walk them down the stair
But I can wrestle this one if I catch it square
4 iron hoops bleeding rust into the wood
I lean my shoulder in and hope the grip is good
My knees brace for the liquid before it even swings
The body knowing early what the shifting brings
We keep it in the cellar where the damp is thick
With a chalk mark fading on the cooper's trick

Oh, the kilderkin is a quiet hedge of bets
The halfway point between the fever and the debts
We didn’t trust the winter and we didn’t trust the crowd
So we bought the middle measure just to play it out
Yeah, we only go halfway down the dark
Keeping something in the pocket, missing the mark

Upstairs the floorboards shake with heavy boots and heat
They’re raising up a glass to men they’ll never keep
I take the wooden mallet, drive the brass spigot in
A hiss of golden yeast across my knuckle skin
It’s enough to get them singing, not enough to start a war
The cautious kind of plenty that we settled for

Oh, the kilderkin is a quiet hedge of bets
The halfway point between the fever and the debts
We didn’t trust the winter and we didn’t trust the crowd
So we bought the middle measure just to play it out
Yeah, we only go halfway down the dark
Keeping something in the pocket, missing the mark

But the bottom always comes before the night is done
You can hear the hollow echo when the tap is run
That’s the price of playing safe, of cutting off the end
You save your aching spine, but you let down every friend

'Cause the kilderkin is a quiet hedge of bets
The halfway point between the fever and the debts
We didn’t trust the winter and we didn’t trust the crowd
So we bought the middle measure just to play it out
Yeah, we only go halfway down the dark

Just halfway.
Roll the empty to the alley.
It's lighter when you realize you stopped too soon.