[Intro] (Slow, melancholic jazz piano chords over a quiet ride cymbal pattern) [Verse 1] Fifty-two white and thirty-six black I’m taking the ivory and I’m taking it back The city is screaming through the windowpane glass I’m letting the sirens and the yellow cabs pass My hands are the only thing that know what to do When I’m translating all of this concrete for you [Chorus] I’ve got eighty-eight keys to unlock the door A heavy wooden pedal on a hardwood floor It’s an indie jazz remedy, a hipster disguise To hide the honest exhaustion right behind my eyes The hammer hits the string and the resonance rings I’m sovereign of the keyboard and the quiet it brings [Verse 2] They want me to compromise, they want me to sing Some bubbly pop track about a diamond ring But I’m charting out dissonance, a minor flat five Just to prove to myself that I’m fully alive I’ve got my own sound, it’s a little complex I’m cashing my own kind of spiritual checks [Solo] (Complex, improvisational jazz piano solo, fast and articulate but moody) [Chorus] I’ve got eighty-eight keys to unlock the door A heavy wooden pedal on a hardwood floor It’s an indie jazz remedy, a hipster disguise To hide the honest exhaustion right behind my eyes The hammer hits the string and the resonance rings I’m sovereign of the keyboard and the quiet it brings [Outro] Just the keys. Just the eighty-eight. Leave the tip jar. (Soft piano arpeggio fading into the sound of a match striking)
