[Intro | intensity 1/10 | nylon-string Spanish guitar alone, one Rhodes chord blooming over a Db pedal — no drums, no strings | spoken soft, close, off-mic] Mm. Last show's at eleven. [Verse 1 | intensity 2/10 | Rhodes and bass only, sustained legato chords, nylon guitar answering in the gaps, brushed kit barely there | sweet falsetto, conversational volume, breathy, entering ahead of the downbeat, resolving to the 9th — no harmonies, no strings, vocal dry and close, minimal reverb, breath audible] Everybody's got a version of you they carry around The one from the photographs, the one they tell at dinner I've heard them all, and they're not wrong They're just early They stop right where the good part starts [Pre-Chorus 1 | intensity 4/10 | congas enter, Rhodes blooms through the Cm7b5 and F7alt, guitar climbs | lifting gently, sweet, no push — strings still out, plate reverb opens slightly] I don't need the opening I don't need the part they clap for Let them have the trailer, baby I'll take the rest of the reel [Chorus 1 | intensity 6/10 | full kit enters on the Gbmaj7#11, Rhodes in held chords, low strings only — warm and open, NOT full power | head voice opens sweetly, gentle vibrato, wide leaps, no strain | close harmonies answer in parentheses, lead subtly doubled, wide plate with long pre-delay] I'll be the second feature (second feature) The one that plays when the crowd's gone home and the lights stay down No popcorn, no premiere, no line around the block Just you, and me, and a room that isn't watching Let them see the star of it I want the story [Verse 2 | intensity 3/10 — sit below Chorus 1, thinner and more intimate | percussion to a whisper, strings out entirely, bass and nylon guitar carry it over a pedal | half-voice, honeyed, unhurried, reverb pulls in tight, doubling removed] You do that thing at parties where you laugh a half-beat after everybody I clocked it the first night, been thinking on it since Somebody taught you to wait and see which way the room was going Well, the room went home an hour ago And you're still here And you laughed first this time [Pre-Chorus 2 | intensity 5/10 | congas thicken, strings begin to rise, guitar answers the vocal line, deceptive resolution into the chorus | one notch above the first, still restrained] So keep the version they believe Keep the one that's easy to explain I'm not asking you to say it out loud I'm asking you not to leave before the credits [Chorus 2 | intensity 7/10 — one step above Chorus 1, still under the ceiling | full strings enter for the first time, flugelhorn answers, kit develops into intricate sixteenths | fuller, effortless, no belting | tape slap on the last word of each line] I'll be the second feature (second feature) The one that plays when the crowd's gone home and the lights stay down No popcorn, no premiere, no line around the block Just you, and me, and a room that isn't watching Let them see the star of it I want the story [Instrumental | intensity 6/10 | nylon-string Spanish guitar solo over congas and Rhodes, strings swelling underneath, harmony drifting toward A major, no vocals] [Bridge | intensity 2/10 — quietest moment in the song, MODULATE to A major, chromatic mediant, no setup | falsetto and one Rhodes chord, nylon guitar harmonic, everything else silent | whispered, breath audible, almost dry, one long reverb tail on the last word] they will ask me how it went (how it went) and i will lie beautifully because the truth is small and warm and has your knees in it and belongs to nobody (nobody) else [Final Chorus | intensity 9/10 — the only full vocal peak, MODULATE up a minor third to E major, pivot through F#m7 - B13 | everything enters at once: full orchestra, flugelhorn, triple-tracked lead, stacked harmonies spread hard wide, congas, tambourine | falsetto opens all the way but stays sweet and weightless, soaring in head voice with vibrato — no cracking, no chest belt | peak only from the fourth line on] I'll be the second feature (second feature) The one that plays when the crowd's gone home and the lights stay down And I have spent my whole life being somebody's almost I have been the rehearsal, I have been the maybe, I have been the rain check But you looked at me on a Tuesday like I was the whole marquee So let them see the star of it Let them have the star of it I want the story [Outro | intensity 3/10 — collapse immediately, land cold on a held Emaj9, no fade | bass, nylon guitar, one Rhodes, harmonies humming] (second feature) Don't get your coat. (second feature) Let it run.
