[Intro: Soft piano, distant strings, slow orchestral swell] [Verse 1: Intimate low female register, breathy and conversational] Grandma June kept a powder-blue dress In a bag behind the stairs Said she wore it to the Waldorf On New Year's Eve in '59 A man with a silver cigarette case Asked her twice to dance She'd always smile before the ending Like the answer might still change [Pre-Chorus: Restrained, warm cello rising] Mama dried a plate that wasn't wet And never spoke at all The radiator knocked behind the sink I thought it sounded like applause [Chorus: Sweeping legato strings, vulnerable sustained notes] Leave the music on When they carry out the flowers For the girl inside the coatroom Who's been listening for hours She's got somebody else's fur Folded in her arms Just a little longer, please Leave the music on [Instrumental: Solo violin answers the vocal melody] [Verse 2: Soft chest voice, intimate and reflective] I took her picture to Manhattan Taped it over my bed At parties where I knew nobody I borrowed things she said The winter that we buried June I opened up the frame Found a slip from the Waldorf With her maiden name [Pre-Chorus: Almost spoken, strings withdraw] "Coat check, New Year's Eve Eight dollars fifty cash" And underneath, in pencil "Got to hear the band" [Chorus: Fuller orchestra, aching and expansive] Leave the music on When they carry out the flowers For the girl inside the coatroom Who's been listening for hours She's got somebody else's fur Folded in her arms Just a little longer, please Leave the music on [Bridge: Nearly dry vocal, sparse piano, gradual string crescendo] I asked Mama on a Sunday While she folded up the sheets "Did she really dance with him Or was that part for me?" She said, "June danced all right After all the guests had gone Took her shoes off in the coatroom And sang the whole way home" [Final Chorus: Grand orchestral crescendo, emotional but controlled female lead] Leave the music on When they carry out the flowers For the girl inside the coatroom Still listening after hours She's got somebody else's fur Folded in her arms Just a little longer, please Leave the music on Leave the music on [Outro: Orchestra dissolves, intimate unaccompanied vocal] Her dress still hangs beside my bed It never fit me right The radiator knocked again I took a bow this time [End: Single piano chord, fading room reverb]
