[Verse 1: Harlem stride male lead, quick over a pounding stride piano and heavy live drums] Three months behind on the top floor, and the letters gettin' mean First in blue ink, then in black ink, then in red like I ain't seen So I did what Grandma did up here when Grandma couldn't pay Wrote a sign and taped it on the stoop, "Big Party, Saturday" Got a piano man called Fingers with a left hand like a drill And a right hand like a pickpocket, and neither one sits still By ten the stairs are packed, by eleven so's the hall By midnight there's a conga line that's goin' through the wall [Hook: Harlem stride male lead, full band] Cover charge, put a dollar in the jar and climb the stairs Fish is fryin', piano's poundin', there's a party up in there Every dollar's coverin' the cover, every dollar's coverin' me It's a cover charge for the rent I owe, and the dancin' isn't free [Verse 2: Harlem stride male lead, quicker, stride piano and walking bass guitar] Half past one, a knock comes, and I know that knock by heart It's Kaminsky, the landlord, and my whole chest falls apart And the room goes still, and Fingers lifts his hands up off the keys And I'm practicin' my speech, the one that starts and ends with please And he reaches in his coat, and I'm expectin' papers, signed But he pulls a dollar out and drops it in the jar and gets in line Hey now, Fingers, hit the keys, the landlord paid the door And the landlord's got a two-step that I never seen before [Hook: Harlem stride male lead, full band] Cover charge, put a dollar in the jar and climb the stairs Fish is fryin', piano's poundin', there's a party up in there Every dollar's coverin' the cover, every dollar's coverin' me It's a cover charge for the rent I owe, and the dancin' isn't free [Verse 3: Harlem stride male lead, high piano trill under the rap] Four A.M., he's sweatin', and he's sittin' on the stairs And he says his mama threw these parties, back when he had hair Says she paid this very building off a dollar at a time That's how she got the deed, one jar, one party, one dime So the cover charge was always how the rent got paid up here And he knew it, and he came, 'cause he'd been missin' it for years Hey now, three months square, and I didn't miss a beat And he's comin' back next Saturday, and he's bringin' fish to eat [Bridge: Harlem stride male lead, stride piano roaring, organ stabs] Dig, a dollar at the door, that's the oldest trick in town Every brick up on this block was paid with somebody gettin' down So when the letters come in red, don't you cry and don't you hide Fry some fish, call Fingers, and let the whole block come inside [Final Hook: Harlem stride male lead, full band] Cover charge, put a dollar in the jar and climb the stairs Fish is fryin', piano's poundin', there's a party up in there Every dollar's coverin' the cover, every dollar's coverin' me It's a cover charge for the rent I owe, and the dancin' isn't free [End]
