Paper Lantern

Intro

mm-mm, la-la, (shi-ya) — hum it low, hum it low

soft koto on the edge, a cigarette moon

Verse

I walk the river walk where the paper lanterns lean

my coat's got a chill from the last slow scene

you left with a laugh like a knife in silk

left me counting fingerprints on my whiskey glass

the tram bell tolls, tin and gold, a tiny drum

I feel the city bend like bamboo in a storm

your shadow in my coffee, bitter-sweet and thin

I play a crooked chord and try to breathe you in

Pre-chorus

slow drum, slow breath (ah-ah)

string bends, one step left (one step left)

carry me on darkened rails, carry me back again

carry me to something we can call a friend

Chorus

hold me like a paper lantern, hold me in the rain

hold me on the rooftop where the rain remembers our names

hold me like a paper lantern, hold me till it burns

hold me till the dawn unthreads, till the moon returns

hold me like a paper lantern, hold me in the rain

hold me on the rooftop where the rain remembers our names

Verse

You said love was a melody, fragile as lacquered wood

we tried to tune it with our hands, we tried the best we could

there's a bruise of blue beneath my sleeve — it's your laugh

I play those minor blues and watch the night come back

a shamisen thread, a streetlamp grin, a taxi sometimes sighs

I trace your name in steam on glass until the letters cry

my boots on stone, slow and sure, the guitar growls low

your departing shadow keeps the rhythm as I go

Bridge

oh-oh, the roof creaks like a lullaby (la-la)

iron rails, silk and fire, underneath the sky (ah-ya)

say my name, say it soft, say it one more time (say it)

let the city fold around us, keep the foolish rhyme

Chorus

hold me like a paper lantern, hold me in the rain

hold me on the rooftop where the rain remembers our names

hold me like a paper lantern, hold me till it burns

hold me till the dawn unthreads, till the moon returns

hold me like a paper lantern, hold me in the rain

hold me on the rooftop where the rain remembers our names