Rust Don't Mean Ruined

They towed us out here to be sold for scrap.
We had other plans.

Every hull in this harbor was towed out for scrap,
Stamped and forgotten and left off the map.
But the rope found the rope and the board found the nail,
And a town grew up out of everything that failed.
Now there's smoke in the morning, there's bread on the line,
And a door that still opens at a quarter past nine.

The paint's coming off, well, so is mine.
We're getting along just fine.

Rust don't mean ruined, old don't mean done,
The tide still lifts us, every last one.
They wrote us off, but the water never did.
Rust don't mean ruined, old don't mean done.

Miss Ada came out here at sixty-five or so,
Said the world quit waving, so she let the waving go.
She's mending the same coat she's mended for years,
One brass button still on from her wedding day.
And she'll tell you a patch is just a place that held on,
And she'll pour you a cup before you ask.

We don't throw much away out here,
Not a coat, not a boat, not a year.

Rust don't mean ruined, old don't mean done,
The tide still lifts us, every last one.
They wrote us off, but the water never did.
Rust don't mean ruined, old don't mean done.

Somebody asked me, don't it hurt, being left behind?
I said, friend...
we weren't left.
We were let go. There's a difference.
I used to think growing old meant learning what to leave.
Turns out it's learning what's worth carrying.
And every light in this town is still on.

Rust don't mean ruined, old don't mean done,
The tide still lifts us, every last one.
If your hands look older, if your days run long,
Rust don't mean ruined. Come on. Sing along.
Rust don't mean ruined... old don't mean done.

They towed us out here to be sold for scrap...
and we built a town instead.