Sorry Is a Short Word

Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)
Sorry is a short word
(it's taking me the whole street)
Sorry is a short word

Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)
Sorry is a short word
(it's taking me the whole street)
Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)

S, O, R, R, Y
(five letters)
S, O, R, R, Y
(one breath)

Left the house with my keys and no plan
Hood up, collar up, hands in my sleeves
Streetlights flicker like they're taking notes
A cat on a wall gives me the look of a judge
Rehearsing it past the corner shop
Past the bus stop where you used to leave
First try: I was tired and I didn't mean it
Second try: you started it, you know you did
Third try: I'm sorry, but I'm sorry, but
It sounds like a door that won't swing
The cold gets in my teeth and the word gets in my way
A man on a bike rings his bell like he knows
I wave like I'm busy, I'm just walking away
From the one thing I owe
The one word I owe

One block, two blocks
Three blocks, four
Every step is a syllable
I owe you more
Five, six, seven, eight
I'm not ready, but it's late

Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)
Sorry is a short word
(it's taking me the whole street)
Sorry is a short word

Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)
Sorry is a short word
(it's taking me the whole street)
Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)

S, O, R, R, Y
(five letters)
S, O, R, R, Y
(one breath)

Your gate's got a squeak I could pick from a crowd
Your porch light is on, but I'm not sure for who
There's a figure on the step with his head in his hands
Mouthing something silent, something old and something new
I stop at the fence like a thief with a conscience
He lifts up his head, and I know that look
He's been walking too, in a circle in the kitchen
Rehearsing the same word the whole way it took
The curtain upstairs moves, your mother or a cat
The whole house is listening and holding its breath
I've walked through worse than a word and a doormat
But this one has edges like a pane with a crack

One block, two blocks
Three blocks, four
Every step is a syllable
I owe you more
Five, six, seven, eight
I'm not ready, but it's late

Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)
Sorry is a short word
(it's taking me the whole street)
Sorry is a short word

Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)
Sorry is a short word
(it's taking me the whole street)
Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)

S, O, R, R, Y
(five letters)
S, O, R, R, Y
(one breath)

We both start at once
And we both stop
You say go on, I say you first
And a dog barks somewhere, a neighbour's lamp clicks
A whole street waiting for the worst
And the worst is
Nothing, just two people
With the same word in their throats
You laugh first, then I do, then the porch light flickers
Like it's clapping, like it knows

Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)
Sorry is a short word
(we said it at the same time)
Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)
Sorry is a short word
(we said it at the same time)
Sorry is a short word
(five letters, one breath)

S, O, R, R, Y
(we said it)
S, O, R, R, Y
(one breath)

Sorry is a short word
(sorry)
Sorry