Song 85: Neighborly

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
Madame Nguyen on the third floor
Has never learned my name
She calls me la petite
Which I haven't been in twenty years
But the twenty years
Are none of her business
And the la petite
Is her way of saying
I remember when you arrived
With two suitcases
And the wrong coat for December
And I watched
And I said nothing
And the saying nothing was a kindness
Because the wrong coat
Was yours to discover

She leaves tangerines by my door
On no particular schedule
And I leave the newspaper
Where she can reach it
Without bending her knees
And we have never discussed this
And the not discussing
Is the constitution
Of our tiny country

[Pre-Chorus]
And the tiny country has no anthem
And no border patrol
Just a hallway
And a smell of garlic
And an understanding
That the bins go out on Tuesday
And if yours are still inside by evening
Someone will handle it
And never mention it
And the not mentioning
Is the national sport

[Chorus]
L'amour du voisin, l'amour du voisin
The love that lives one wall away and asks for nothing
L'amour du voisin, l'amour du voisin
The borrowed cup returned with extra
The parcel held — the plant watered —
The mail collected when the trip runs long
Neighbourly love is not a feeling
It's a system of small favours
Running on the honour code
And the honour code
Has never once been written down
And has never once been broken

[Verse 2]
Monsieur Deschamps downstairs
Plays the violin at seven every evening
Not well
But faithfully
And I have come to need it
The way you need a church bell
That doesn't keep good time
But keeps time nonetheless

He doesn't know I listen
And I don't know he can hear me
Singing along through the floor
And we are a duet
That has never met in the stairwell
Without pretending
We are strangers
Which we are
Which we aren't
Which is the whole point of neighbours

[Chorus]
L'amour du voisin, l'amour du voisin
The love that lives one wall away and asks for nothing
L'amour du voisin, l'amour du voisin
The borrowed cup returned with extra
The system of small favours
Running without a contract
The honour code
Unwritten
Unbroken

[Bridge]
In the village where I'm from
The walls were thinner
And the love was louder
And the neighbours were the infrastructure
Before the infrastructure arrived

Bà ngoại said
Hàng xóm tốt hơn áo ấm
A good neighbour is warmer than a coat

And she was right
Because the coat doesn't check on you
When the lights stay off too long
And the coat doesn't leave soup
With a note that says nothing
Because the soup
Already said it

[Outro]
L'amour du voisin