Odes to Joy

Three Sheets to Kishkiyya · Track 106 · middle

Changua

VOLUME V — the CURES, crawling back to life. The idiom and the song's title hook: "Changua". Its true history: Colombia (Muisca roots) — a milky broth with poached eggs, coriander and stale bread; gentle, sincere comfort. Render this beat of the night as the band's affectionate, funny, celebratory tribute — the idiom itself is the chorus hook.

Lyrics

[Intro]
Oh, my poor little bird...

[Verse 1]
The morning sun is too heavy for your mind
You're trembling under the blankets, completely unwound
But I am not here to scold or to preach
I have something ancient right within reach
From the high Andes down to this kitchen stove
I am boiling up a small basin of hope

[Chorus]
Let me make you a Changua, a bowl of the light
To chase out the shadows you drank in the night
Just milk and water, warming up slow
Where the little round egg can gently poach and float
It's Changua, my dear, the Muisca knew best
How to give a tired and tumbling spirit its breath

[Verse 2]
We take the stale bread that you left on the side
And drop it right in where the coriander hides
The green leaves are floating like stars in the white
It looks like a cloud, and it makes the world right
A little salt for the tears that you spilled by the door
You just need to let your soft center get warm

[Chorus]
Let me make you a Changua, a bowl of the light
To chase out the shadows you drank in the night
Just milk and water, warming up slow
Where the little round egg can gently poach and float
It's Changua, my dear, the Muisca knew best
How to give a tired and tumbling spirit its breath

[Bridge]
Take a sip from the spoon, feel it coat your chest
See, the color is coming right back to your cheeks
It's just simple magic, a soft milky brew
For repairing the beautiful ruin of you

[Outro]
Soak up the broth with the last of the bread
I'll sit right here by the foot of the bed
Until you are whole, until you are... sleeping again.
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