The story behind this song
There's still a habit of knocking twice on the wall — except now nobody knocks back. Top bunk, bottom bunk, one pair of headphones split between two ears, the same song going two directions. His jacket still hangs in the closet, cuffs gone, still smelling of that terrible cologne. A seven-second voicemail of him laughing at his own joke gets played when the house goes quiet wrong.
Losing a brother young leaves a person walking around incomplete, and this doesn't pretend otherwise. No tidy goodbye. No silver lining.
For the one who still knocks twice some nights, figuring the bond doesn't end just because one of them did.
Lyrics
Old habit
You don't knock back
Your ear, my ear, the same song going two directions
You wore that jacket till the cuffs gave out — it's hanging in my closet
It still smells like your terrible cologne
They didn't grow up sharing a wall with you
I didn't get to keep you, so I'm keeping half of it
Your laugh, your jacket, your side of every story
Half of me is still there
And I'm not asking for it back
I play it when the house goes quiet wrong
You were supposed to stand up at my wedding and roast me half to death
I told your jokes for you that night. Badly. They still worked.
They didn't grow up sharing a wall with you
I didn't get to keep you, so I'm keeping half of it
Your laugh, your jacket, your side of every story
Half of me is still there
And I'm not asking for it back
the bond doesn't end just 'cause one of us did
So some nights I knock twice on the wall
Wherever you are
I figure it carries
I didn't get to keep you, so I'm keeping half of it
Your laugh, your jacket, your side of every story
Half of me is still there
And I'm not asking for it back
Goodnight
Same as ever
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