⌒ Odes to Joy

Three Sheets to Kishkiyya · Track 3 · middle

Groggy

VOLUME I — being gloriously, world-tilting DRUNK (the night at full tilt). The idiom and the song's title hook: "Groggy". Its true history: UK naval, c.1770 — from 'grog,' the watered rum ration; Admiral 'Old Grog' Vernon ordered the dilution in 1740 to curb drunkenness, but too much still left sailors unsteady. Render this beat of the night as the band's affectionate, funny, celebratory tribute — the idiom itself is the chorus hook.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
The floorboards in this corner booth are starting to swell
Like the wood of a ship that’s been taking on chill
Got a glass of brown liquor and it’s doing me fine
I’m walking a heavy, magnificent stride
Ain't no storm on the radar, just a haze in the room
But I’m swaying right here to a jukebox tune

[Chorus]
Yeah, I’m getting groggy, heavy and sweet
The ocean is rising right under my feet
Just a little bit sideways, a little bit grand
Got a half-empty tumbler doing work in my hand
Bless the tilt of the world when the edges get foggy
I’m gloriously, beautifully groggy

[Verse 2]
Back in 1740, an Admiral of fame
Old Grog Vernon tried to settle the waves
Poured a bucket of water in the sailor boy's rum
Thinking three parts to one would keep everybody plumb
But he didn't know the math of a thirsty crowd
Diluted or not, the horizon gets loud
And the rigging keeps spinning against the dark sky

[Chorus]
Yeah, we're getting groggy, heavy and sweet
The ocean is rising right under our feet
Just a little bit sideways, a little bit grand
Got a half-empty tumbler doing work in my hand
Bless the tilt of the world when the edges get foggy
We're gloriously, beautifully groggy

[Bridge]
It ain't about the falling, it's the grace of the tilt
The warmest old velvet that a barman built
So pour me another, just water and wood
Old Vernon was wrong, but the medicine took

[Outro]
Yeah, the ship's going down but the captain's alright
Just riding the waves of a Saturday night
Getting groggy
Yeah, just a little
Ain't no need to find the shore yet
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