[Key Center: D# Minor] [Tempo: 68 BPM] [Time Signature: 12/8] [Production: 1960s noir girl-group ballad dragged through a jazz cellar at closing time. Ribbon microphones, cigarette-smoke ambience, upright bass, brushed drums, vibraphone ghosts, muted trumpet bends, close three-part harmonies, tape saturation, room reflections, occasional dissonant harmony clusters. Vocal phrasing behind the beat. Notes bent sharp then allowed to fall flat.] [Verse 1] [D#m(maj9)] Slow motion emotion [C7#11] I watched my own face change [Bmaj7#5] In the middle of the damage [E7alt] I still called it by my name [G#m9] I kept the receipts [C#13b9] In the pockets of my mind [F#maj7#11] Telling myself I’d learn it [A#7alt] But I learned it late every time [Production: Harmony singers enter only on the final words of each line. Muted trumpet answers with descending chromatic phrases.] [Pre-Chorus] [D#m9] If I could turn around [B7#11] And meet me in the street [Gmaj7#5] Would I pull myself close [C#7b9] Or tell myself to leave? [F#m9] Would I know the difference [B13b9] Between mercy and retreat? [Emaj7#11] Would I recognize my shadow [A#7#9b13] Before it looked like me? [Production: Vibraphone tremolo. Bass abandons walking and holds long uneasy notes. Harmonies spread wider.] [Chorus] [D#m9] Real time, real time [G#13] Look me in the eye [C#maj9] Living in hindsight [F#maj7#11] Leaves you half alive [B13] Real time, real time [Emaj7#11] Don’t let it pass me by [G#m11] If we could see ourselves [A#7alt] Would we still hide? [D#m9] Real time, real time [G#13] Nothing to revise [C#maj9] Every little warning [F#maj7#11] Wearing a disguise [B13] Real time, real time [Emaj7#11] No alibi tonight [G#m11] If we could see ourselves [A#7alt] Would we survive? [Production: Backing trio echoes “survive…” in descending close harmony. Trumpet hits a bent blue note and hangs.] [Verse 2] [D#m(maj9)] I was good at explaining [C7#11] Why the hurt made sense [Bmaj7#5] Good at drawing circles [E7alt] Around the same old fence [G#m9] Now the glass is clearer [C#13b9] And it cuts a little clean [F#maj7#11] Every little wrong turn [A#7alt] Was just me missing me [D#m(maj9)] There were rooms inside me [C7#11] I never thought to light [Bmaj7#5] I called the darkness wisdom [E7alt] Because it sounded right [Production: Harmony stack grows thicker. One singer sustains a minor second against the lead.] [Pre-Chorus] [D#m9] If I could turn around [B7#11] And meet me in the street [Gmaj7#5] Would I pull myself close [C#7b9] Or tell myself to leave? [F#m9] Would I know the difference [B13b9] Between memory and grief? [Emaj7#11] Would I recognize the lie [A#7#9b13] If it spoke with my teeth? [Production: Drums nearly disappear. Room ambience swells. Glass clinks faintly in the distance.] [Bridge] [D#m(maj9)] No more later [B7#11] No more maybe [Gmaj7#5] I keep losing days [C#7b9] Trying to save me [F#m9] No more stories [B13b9] Made of smoke and sympathy [Emaj7#11] No more polishing the chains [A#7alt] Just because they fit me [D#m(maj9)] So I open up [B7#11] To the woman in the frame [Gmaj7#5] She doesn’t look forgiving [C#7b9] She just says my name [Production: Everything drops away except upright bass and harmonies. Lead vocal nearly spoken.] [Final Chorus] [D#m9] Real time, real time [G#13] Look me in the eye [C#maj9] Living in hindsight [F#maj7#11] Leaves you half alive [B13] Real time, real time [Emaj7#11] Don’t let it pass me by [G#m11] If we could see ourselves [A#7alt] Would we still hide? [D#m9] Real time, real time [G#13] Nothing left to disguise [C#maj9] Every broken version [F#maj7#11] Standing side by side [B13] Real time, real time [Emaj7#11] The room is getting bright [G#m11] I finally see myself [A#7alt] And I don’t look away tonight [Outro: Harmonies repeat “real time… real time…” over a descending chromatic bass. Muted trumpet and vibraphone drift around a sustained D#m(maj9). Final chord never fully resolves, fading into tape hiss, ice in a glass, and room tone.]
