Track 2 of the album Evening, Gently · 2023
Borrowed Tie, First Day
“My father's tie, knotted twice and still too wide, on my first day in the classroom. I felt about six years old.”
acoustic · coming-of-age folk · hopeful acoustic · 3:35
Lyrics
Dad's old tie around my collar Knotted twice and still too wide Bus pass folded in my pocket Nerves are riding up inside Shiny shoes that pinch my ankles Coffee going cold in hand Sixteen floors of strangers' faces And a lanyard I don't understand Walk in like you've been here before Shake the hand and hold the door Nobody knows it's your first day Nobody knows you lay awake Borrowed tie and borrowed nerve Learning every way to serve Head up high, the lift goes up This small job is big enough Someone shows me where the kettle lives Someone shares a biscuit tin Someone says they got it wrong once Worse than anything I've been By the lunch hour I am nodding Like I know what all this means Funny how a stranger's kindness Makes a room feel less like seams Walk in like you've been here before Shake the hand and hold the door Nobody knows it's your first day Nobody knows you lay awake Borrowed tie and borrowed nerve Learning every way to serve Head up high, the lift goes up This small job is big enough And when the clock says five at last I'll loosen up the knot Ride home with the evening light On everything I've got Tell my father that it fit Tell him it was fine That a man can wear his father's tie And still walk his own line Walk in like you've been here before Shake the hand and hold the door Nobody knows it's your first day Nobody knows you lay awake Borrowed tie and borrowed nerve Learning every way to serve Head up high, the lift goes up This small job is big enough This small job is big enough This small job is big enough