EVENING PRACTICE · Track 3 of 8

The Second Cup

by Mercy Marlow · 2:15 · handwritten lyrics, AI-generated recording (disclosed)

Releases 6 AugustTrack 3 of 8The Second CupMercy Marlow · EVENING PRACTICE · 2:15

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Lyrics — written by hand

Intro

(Mm) one more, unhurried

Verse

The first one's for getting through,
you drink it standing up.
It tastes of hurry, it tastes of proof,
you barely taste the cup.

Pre-Chorus

But somewhere between the doing
and whatever comes after that,
there's a kettle that clicks in an empty kitchen
and a chair that knows where you sat.

Chorus

This is the second cup.
Nothing depends on it.
No one is waiting past the last of it —
and that is the point.

Verse

You sit with your back to the window,
the street doing what streets do.
Steam on your glasses, hands wrapped round,
and an hour that belongs to you.

Chorus

This is the second cup.
Nothing depends on it.
No one is waiting past the last of it —
and that is the point.

Bridge

I'm not against the first one,
it gets the machinery turned.
But the second is the one that says
you don't have to have earned it.

Chorus

This is the second cup.
Nothing depends on it.
No one is waiting past the last of it —
and that is the point.

Outro

(Mm) steam on the glass.
(Mm) an hour with no name.

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