[Intro] [Low vinyl crackle, a single, detuned music box note repeats for two bars. A deep, filtered 808 kick enters, off-beat] [Verse 1] [Male vocals, a low, confidential murmur, close-mic'd with audible breath] So the house lights lift And the painted glass Was it all too swift? A question I must ask Did you follow the design? This little sleight of mouth and cloth This counterfeit of mine [Pre-Chorus] [Syncopated, dusty breakbeat enters, sitting way behind the beat. A mournful cello line begins, legato and expressive] And the colors start to run from the heat of the bulbs The exits feel so definite The air gets thick and pulls [Chorus] [Energy lifts slightly, but remains melancholic. Vocals become more melodic, layered with a faint, airy harmony] So just close your eyes, if you would Let the logic fall away Tell me that you understood What I was trying to convey Pretend the floorboards didn't groan Just for a little while And I won't feel so ALONE [Verse 2] [Beat continues its lazy groove. Vocals return to a confidential murmur] These are borrowed phrases This is just a paper moon I built it up in stages This afternoon It's a fragile, hollow thing, you see It only works if you agree To make it real for me [Chorus - Short] [Energy is more urgent now. Cello becomes more prominent and dissonant. Vocals have a slight edge of desperation] So just close your eyes, if you would Tell me that you understood Pretend the floorboards didn't groan And I won't feel so alone [Breakdown] [All instruments abruptly stop. Only the vocalist remains, with faint tape hiss in the background. Delivery is strained, almost cracking] And if the spell is broken... If you see the support wires and all the seams... If you notice my conviction is a token... What's left of these contrivances? Don't say the word... [voice drops to a near-whisper] Don't let the sound cut out... Don't let me be a counterfeit... [Outro] [The detuned music box melody returns, solitary and warped. A single, low cello note is bowed and held, its decay full of rosin grit] Is this... (is anybody there) Is this... real? [The music box melody glitches, repeats a single note faster and faster, then stops abruptly with a tape-click sound. Silence.]
