[Intro — very deep spoken bass-baritone, close-mic, dry; kick and sub pulse only] Don't promise. [Short low-brass stab] [Verse 1 — spoken rhythmically; rolling groove enters] Don't promise you'll call. Call. [Muted trumpet reply] Don't promise you'll come. Come. [Low trombone hit] Don't promise you'll stay. Stay. [Pause] While you're here. [Groove opens — bass, shuffled percussion, tiny brass fragments] [Hook — low spoken chant, no melody] Don't promise. Don't promise. Show up. [Brass stab] Don't promise. Don't promise. Show up. [Instrumental — 16 bars; hypnotic bass loop, clipped trumpet and baritone-sax gestures] [Verse 2 — flat, dry, almost bureaucratic] Next week. Soon. We should. I will. [Each phrase answered by a tiny different electronic or brass sound] Everybody lives in the future tense. [Pause] Nobody's home. [Drop — full groove, short phrases used like percussion] Don't promise — call. Don't promise — come. Don't promise — stay. Don't promise— [One beat silence] Show up. [Extended Club Groove — 24 bars; “show up” fragments, bass trombone and muted trumpet punctuation] Show up. Show up. Show— up. [Break — kick disappears; dry voice, sub pulse and distant low brass] Don't promise me forever. [Pause] Forever's cheap. [Single absurdly deep tuba pulse] Give me Thursday. Eight o'clock. [Dry click] Give me Thursday. Show up. [Groove snaps back] [Verse 3 — spoken, self-implicating, faintly amused] I promised too. More than once. I meant it every time. [Pause] For about a minute. [Short muted horn reply] If you know — say it. If you don't — say that. I can live with maybe. I can't dance with a promise. [Instrumental — groove grows stranger and more physical; brass fragments become rhythmic] [Final Hook — low spoken chant, full club groove] Don't promise. Don't promise. Show up. (Call.) [Brass hit] (Come.) [Brass hit] (Stay.) [Deep tuba hit] Don't promise. Don't promise. Show up. [Beat suddenly strips away] Don't promise. Just— [Long pause] I promise— [Voice cut off instantly by the groove] [Final Drop — biggest groove; brass, bass and vocal fragments locked together] Show up. Show up. Show up. [Final low-brass hit] Show up.
