[Verse 1]
Salt on your shoulder, mango-sweet laugh,
Your smile wakes the tide, moonlight on my skin.
Market lanterns blink like fireflies on a raft,
Coral glow below where the night tides begin.
[Pre-Chorus / Call & Response]
(You) "Stay close."
(Me) "I stay, like the moon pulls the bay."
(You) "Hold tight."
(Me) "I hold — off-beat, heart skankin' through the night."
[Chorus 1]
Oh, my island heartbeat, you and me,
Dancing on the off-beat of the sea.
Love so steady, salt‑sweet and free,
You keep the light, I'll keep the beat.
[Verse 2]
Your laugh is a maraca, mango-sweet and slow,
Plantain smoke and jasmine braided through your hair.
You trace tide-lines on my wrist where moonlit currents flow,
Bare feet drum the boardwalk — wind combs out our care.
[Pre-Chorus — build]
(Lead) "When the boats go quiet and the long road calls,"
(Band echo) "When the boats go quiet..."
(Lead) "I find the map in your smile, follow reef and star-lit walls."
(Band echo) "Follow reef and star-lit walls..."
[Chorus 2 — variation]
Oh, my island heartbeat, you and me,
Dancing on the off-beat of the sea.
Love so steady, salt‑sweet and free,
You keep the fire — I keep the beat.
(Background) "Keep the beat — keep the beat..."
[Bridge — promise & small conflict]
When a squall drums the horizon and the ferry runs slow,
When the sky pulls hard and the harbor wants to hide,
I'll stitch our nets with moonlight, mend the mast, and row,
Tie my vow to your doorstep, row home through any tide.
[Breakdown / Call & Response]
(Lead, low) "If I have to go far..."
(Backing) "Go far..."
(Lead, bright) "I'll learn the sound of your name in every star."
(Backing) "Every star..."
[Chorus 3 — final, fuller harmonies]
You are my island heartbeat, you and me,
We move like waves in a syncopated sea.
Love grown tactile — salt, sugar, and teak,
You keep the fire — I keep the beat.
(Extra harmony) "You keep the fire — I keep the beat..."
[Outro]
Let the skank keep turning, low bass like a tide,
Organ stabs like lighthouse flashes through our sleep.
Coconut shell cadence, voices layered side by side,
Island heartbeat, steady, something ours to keep.
(Soft repeat) "You keep the fire — I keep the beat..."
[Arrangement notes — suggested live/studio feel]
Tempo: 72–76 BPM. Warm, rounded bass groove (deep, slightly syncopated), skanking guitar upstrokes on the off‑beats, Hammond/organ stabs for color, light rim clicks and shakers for high‑end shimmer, a spare melodica or muted trumpet for fills. Lead vocal: female — intimate, slightly husky; double the choruses with layered harmonies. Male backing vocals provide call‑and‑response echoes on pre-chorus and breakdown. Dynamics: keep verses intimate (sparse), swell into choruses (full bass + organ + harmony), drop to the bridge for a raw promise (hand percussion + lead), then lift into the final chorus with full band and stacked voices.
