[Intro: eight bars; melodic bass leads, glassy chorus guitar, icy synth arpeggio; brisk disco pulse beneath a fragile atmosphere] [Verse 1: intimate male vocal, lightly behind the beat; spare drums, guitar answering each phrase] You were the last one on the tray, A little split along the side. I tucked the paper round your waist And walked you home against the tide Of people spilling down the street. For once, I had someone to meet. [Pre-Chorus: synth widens; melody climbs, vocal remains restrained] I loved you plain. I told you so. Then changed your dressing every day. You asked if we could go somewhere. I asked if you were warm enough. [Chorus: bright, aching melody; full disco drums, buoyant bass, shimmering guitar] You were dressed to leave. I thought you’d dressed for me. He kissed the mustard off your cheek Where everyone could see. I held your little coat And watched you turn away. You were dressed to leave. I thought you meant to stay. [Verse 2: bass grows more restless; vocal sharper, guitar figures interlock] He wore white silk. You wore that bun. He asked you out beneath the lights. I’d kept you wrapped for all those years; He had you dancing in one night. You laughed, your paper coming loose. I watched him catch what I would lose. [Pre-Chorus: kick and bass briefly exposed; strings enter on the final line] I said, “You know what goes in those?” He said, “I didn’t ask.” You took his hand. I took your coat. I wish I’d left it on the rack. [Chorus: fuller harmonies; lead rises without becoming theatrical] You were dressed to leave. I thought you’d dressed for me. He kissed the mustard off your cheek Where everyone could see. I held your little coat And watched you turn away. You were dressed to leave. I thought you meant to stay. [Bridge: half-time vocal over the unchanged dance pulse; close, almost conversational] Ten in the packet. Eight in the bag. I never wondered Who went without. Now there’s your coat Across my knees. I tell the boys. They laugh in threes. [Final Chorus: highest melodic lift; layered guitars, restrained backing vocals] You were dressed to leave. I thought you’d dressed for me. He kissed the mustard off your cheek. I watched. I let him see. I held your little coat. There’s nothing in the sleeves. I thought I’d dressed you up. I’d dressed you up to leave. [Outro: instrumental only; sixteen bars, bass carries the chorus melody beneath cascading guitar; synth slowly recedes]
