A Hammer

[Verse 1: Kate Tempest]

Dale was Pete's Mum's new boyfriend's son

He had a mouth that was too small for his toungue

Teeth like a ladder that was missing a rung

Chin looked like it was trying to run

He had a laugh like a car crash

Eyes like... Pot holes in tarmac

Complexion the colour of chewed up bar snacks

Kinda guy spend his whole life getting laughed at

[Chorus]

When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like nails

If you bow to the hand that damns ya, everything fails

The things you do, do you

The plans you hatch, hatch monsters

Unless you watch your moves

Your own fists will knock you unconscious

[Verse 2: Kate Tempest]

Pete took him to the pub and the conversation dragged

So Pete got pissed, pretty soon he had more than his usual

Approaching legless

He found himself opening up

I got to get this off my chest, he said

With his head in his hands

I got this girlfriend but I can't stand the way things are going

Right, she's got this job but I don't like it

It pisses me off!

I don't even know what we're fightin' for but these days

Me and her, we are fightin' more than I'd like

And then out comes the white and Dale looks at him in the clinical light of the toilets

"Why what does she do?"

Pete looks at his shoes and says "She's a masseuse"

[Chorus]

[Verse 3: Kate Tempest]

(Pete) "You could call her up, you could book a session

You could push her, see if she responds and then

You can tell me everything and we will both see that I was wrong

To have ever doubted that she would be anything but the mother of

Pure modesty cause I know she loves me, she just does this to pay the bills

And to exist in a way that will give her the means to live for more than a dull routine"

Dale nods

Bells ring in Pete's head

But he looks at Dale: those clumsy legs, that sunken chest, that spotty neck

This is the perfect man to do the test

[Chorus]