“SATURDAY Hundred Ten In The Shade” Performed Vocals 12Gauge858 Written by 12Gauge858 — First Performance Draft Sonic Direction: Southern Soul • Texas Electric Blues • R&B groove • live bass • live drums • expressive electric blues guitar • warm organ • close-mic emotional tenor • playful ad-libs • nighttime slow-burn outro [INTRO — THE HEAT ARRIVES] [Sound of cicadas. Distant traffic. One long electric-guitar bend rises and hangs.] [Male — spoken, amused] Man… It’s Saturday… and somebody left Texas in the oven again. [Guitar answers with a dirty blues lick.] Hundred-ten… and the sun ain’t even sorry. [Guitar screams.] Yeah… I heard you. ⸻ [VERSE 1 — SATURDAY AFTERNOON] Walked outside, concrete breathing fire, Sun sitting overhead like it got something to prove. Could fry bacon and eggs right there by the driveway, Flip ’em around noon… Breakfast ready by two. [Short guitar answer.] Turned on the water, couldn’t keep it cold, Ice hit the glass and surrendered on sight. Opened my truck door, seat said, Don’t touch me, AC blowing hard… but losing the fight. ⸻ [CHORUS] It’s Saturday… Hundred-ten in the shade, AC begging for mercy, still we find a way. It’s Saturday… Sun cooking everything, But wait until those lights come on… and the fountains start to sing. [GUITAR ANSWERS THE LAST LINE — long crying bend into a descending blues run.] ⸻ [VERSE 2 — PEOPLE STILL LIVING] Everybody looking for a little piece of shade, Parking half a mile away for one skinny tree. Cold drinks sweating before we even taste ’em, But nobody’s letting this heat steal the weekend from me. Music rolling out the windows at the light, Somebody grilling… [Male laughs.] Like outside ain’t already the grill. Kids chasing water, grown folks moving slower, Texas sun saying, Go home… We saying… We will. [Guitar chuckles with a playful blues lick.] Just not yet. ⸻ [CHORUS] ‘Cause it’s Saturday… Hundred-ten in the shade, AC begging for mercy, still we find a way. It’s Saturday… Sun cooking everything, But wait until those lights come on… and the fountains start to sing. ⸻ [TRANSITION — SUNSET] [Drums pull back. Bass becomes deeper and smoother. Organ swells. Guitar tone turns warm and spacious.] [Male — softer] Then somewhere around sundown… Texas finally loosens its grip. Not cool… [small laugh] Just… less disrespectful. [Guitar bends softly.] And everybody starts coming back outside. ⸻ [VERSE 3 — SATURDAY NIGHT] Streetlights waking, sky turning purple, Heat rising slowly off the concrete below. Children hit the fountains like they waited all day, Running through the water under that downtown glow. Shoes sitting beside us, feet down in the water, Cold drink sweating between your hand and mine. Music floating somewhere through the summer night… And nobody’s checking the temperature this time. ⸻ [BRIDGE — THE HEART OF SATURDAY] [Instrumentation falls away except bass, organ and guitar.] All day that sun tried to run us away… Burned every sidewalk, every street, every lane. But people down here… we know how to wait. [Pause.] ‘Cause you can’t run Saturday… outta Texas. ⸻ [ELECTRIC BLUES GUITAR SOLO — LET IT SING] [VOCALS STOP.] [The electric blues guitar takes the lead completely. Begin with one sustained, aching note. Let it bend upward slowly, almost like a human voice calling across the city. Answer with a lower phrase. Gradually build into soulful Texas-blues runs, wide vibrato, tasteful distortion and crying bends. Do NOT shred. Every note should breathe.] [Bass and drums lock into a deep Southern groove underneath.] [Halfway through, guitar climbs into a soaring melodic phrase as fountain water and distant nighttime ambience subtly enter.] [Male ad-libs from a distance:] Sing that thing… Yeah… Tell ’em what Saturday feels like… [Guitar answers with its biggest bend.] There you go… ⸻ [FINAL CHORUS — FULL BAND] SATURDAY… Hundred-ten in the shade, We fought that Texas sunshine and still found our way. SATURDAY… Now the whole city’s awake, Lights dancing on the water… while that guitar starts to play. SATURDAY… We survived another day, Sun can have the afternoon… Tonight we’re gonna stay. ⸻ [OUTRO — GUITAR & FOUNTAIN] [Vocals fade. Guitar remains.] [Male — quiet, smiling] Tomorrow… that sun gonna come looking for us again. [Guitar softly answers.] But tonight? [Pause.] Tonight belongs to Saturday. [Electric guitar sings one final long blues phrase while fountain water continues underneath.] [Fade.]
