Track 3 of the album Parade for the Ordinary Tuesday · 2024
The Stallholder Hums While He Weighs the Plums
“A man humming over his plums and not knowing the tune. We learned the tune and sang it back to him.”
classical crossover · choral pop · folk hymn · 3:21
Lyrics
He hums a tune he can't quite name Over the plums in their wooden frame Brass scales swinging in the early sun Saturday's coming for everyone He wraps the figs in yesterday's news Counts out the change in a sing-song snooze A child on tiptoe asks for one more He slips her a plum and he winks at the floor He hums while he weighs the plums And the whole square hums along Pennies and pears and a pocketful of years Folded up inside a song Oh the market remembers the melody Though nobody knows where it's from He hums while he weighs the plums And we all go home with some His wife once sang it, years ago Over the crates, in the morning glow Now it's just a hum, a little lopsided thing But it sweetens every scale's soft swing He hums while he weighs the plums And the whole square hums along Pennies and pears and a pocketful of years Folded up inside a song Oh the market remembers the melody Though nobody knows where it's from He hums while he weighs the plums And we all go home with some Let the awnings flutter, let the baskets sway Let the tune go walking home with us today A little bit of sweetness for the road A little bit of someone's love to hold He hums while he weighs the plums And the whole square hums along Pennies and pears and a pocketful of years Folded up inside a song Oh the market remembers the melody Though nobody knows where it's from He hums while he weighs the plums And we all go home with some He hums, we hum And we all go home with some