Diesel on his fingers, BBQ in his beard
He tuned my busted E-string with a pair of pliers
Said "Mon, your boat's fine — your judgment's weird"
Then spent my last twenty on the harbor fryers
He knew the harbor by the name of every boat
Could tell you who was drunk by how they'd tied their line
Said "Last Friday, mon, a man rowed out in a coat"
"Thirty-seven boats — I fixed twenty-nine"
By seven the harbor had the Friday crowd
Foxy's had the whole dock leaning in
Watched the fuel line like it shouldn't be allowed
Like maybe Lazarus might crank once and begin
Strong rum, Friday smoke — pass the thing around
Foxy's got the harbor singing off-key
I lost my twenty but found the Friday sound
The mechanic led the whole dock to harmony
He fixed one diesel pump with a butter knife
Charged the captain nothing, made the third mate choke
Said "tools are fine, mon, but they complicate life"
Then wiped his hand on a rag that mostly smoked
By ten he'd drawn the whole back bar in tight
Diesel rag on shoulder, waving time
Said "Don't know the words? That's all right
Make something up — it'll rhyme"
By seven the harbor had the Friday crowd
Foxy's had the whole dock leaning in
Watched the fuel line like it shouldn't be allowed
Like maybe Lazarus might crank once and begin
Strong rum, Friday smoke — pass the thing around
Foxy's got the harbor singing off-key
I lost my twenty but found the Friday sound
The mechanic led the whole dock to harmony
The starter clicked once — nothing came
He said "Quiet. She thinking." Still as reef
Second click — the harbor sounded the same
Third one kicked black smoke and found relief
She shook free and the whole dock roared
Mechanic shrugged like what he'd planned
Captain hit the throttle for the last accord
He said "See? She had to understand"
Strong rum, Friday smoke — pass the thing around
Foxy's got the harbor singing off-key
I lost my twenty but found the Friday sound
The mechanic led the whole dock to harmony
I never found my tab and didn't look too hard
The mechanic shook my hand and fixed my strap
Said "Welcome to the harbor — here's my card"
And handed me a bottle cap
I found the butter knife somewhere after midnight
Bent like it had seen the Lord somewhere before
Kept it in my guitar case — felt right
Next to three picks, two receipts, and a chord I couldn't afford