[Verse 1]
Excoba de Pluto was seven years old
But Keta said his eyes were old as the sea
He wore that uniform like a borrowed coat
And his shoes swallowed him past both knees
[Verse 2]
He walked to school with dust on his socks
One lace dragged like a broken tail
The girls laughed soft, the boys looked away
He kept his face like a locked-up pail
[Pre-Chorus]
But he stood so still
When the tide came in
Like he knew that water
Would remember him
[Chorus]
Old eyes, small boy
Excoba de Pluto
Old eyes, small boy
He carried the ocean
(Excoba de Pluto)
(He carried the ocean)
[Verse 3]
At the market edge by the fish and yam
He’d watch the women count their change
And the old men swear that a child like him
Could hear storms calling through the rain
[Pre-Chorus]
But he stood so still
When the tide came in
Like he knew that water
Would remember him
[Chorus]
Old eyes, small boy
Excoba de Pluto
Old eyes, small boy
He carried the ocean
(Excoba de Pluto)
(He carried the ocean)
[Bridge]
One day he smiled at the breaking foam
And Keta went quiet as a prayer
Like every deep thing in the dark blue world
Had just come back to stare
[Chorus]
Old eyes, small boy
Excoba de Pluto
Old eyes, small boy
He carried the ocean
(Excoba de Pluto)
(He carried the ocean)