[Intro] [Begin underground. Bass plays a low repeating three-note figure. Drums enter with kick and closed hi-hat, then add snare. Guitar strikes short ringing intervals above the bass. Keys repeat a sparse high four-note motif. Build the groove instrument by instrument.] [Basement] [Vocal low and conversational. Bass keeps the opening figure. Guitar answers vocal lines with clipped single-note phrases. Keys stay sparse.] Basement Concrete walls Buzzing light Maintenance halls Button lights Motor starts Doors close Going up [Instrumental] [Drums push the pulse forward. Bass climbs into a higher register. Guitar turns its response into a rising riff. Keys answer with the opening motif one octave higher.] [Verse 1] [Open the arrangement slightly. Guitar uses ringing chords while keys punctuate the spaces between vocal lines.] First floor Empty lobby Front desk Nobody Clock says six Sun says noon Doors close Going up [Verse 2] [Keep climbing musically. Bass becomes more melodic between lines. Guitar moves higher on the neck. Keys play a rising arpeggio that stops abruptly when the doors close.] Third floor Doors slide wide Black sand beach Middle of the night Moon in the water No building in sight Doors close Going up [Chorus] [Full band opens wide. Guitar plays a rising chord figure while keys answer with a descending melody. Bass locks briefly with the kick, then breaks into movement. Vocal remains controlled.] Pick a floor Any floor Nothing matches anymore Going up Going up Every door Somewhere else [Verse 3] [Change the instrumental roles. Keys use clipped electric-piano chords. Guitar plays a thin repeating figure. Bass moves underneath both.] Fifth floor Somebody's kitchen Four people eating Nobody listening One empty chair Plate still warm Doors close Going up [Instrumental] [Let guitar and keys exchange the same short melody in different registers. Bass introduces a new counterline. Drums move accents across the pulse for several bars, then snap back.] [Verse 4] [Remove keys. Bass and drums dominate. Guitar adds isolated harmonics and scraped notes between phrases.] Seventh floor Field of wires Telephone poles No road for miles Wind through the grass Someone waves Someone gets on [Break] [Drop to bass, kick, and one sustained guitar harmonic.] Looks at the buttons Looks back outside Wrong building Doors close Going up [Verse 5] [Keys return with a repeating figure that cycles against the guitar rhythm. Guitar holds wide unresolved chords. Drums become increasingly active.] Ninth floor Grocery aisle No ceiling No end in sight Cart rolls past Nobody pushing Doors close Going up [Extended Instrumental] [Develop the ascent through several passes. Bass climbs register by register. Guitar transforms the rising chorus figure into longer dissonant intervals. Keys accelerate the opening motif into arpeggios, then invert it downward against the rising guitar. Drums add tom runs and displaced accents while preserving the pulse. Let the instruments increasingly disagree harmonically without losing forward motion.] [Verse 6] [Pull the drums back. Bass simplifies. Guitar sustains long unresolved intervals. Keys play the opening motif slowly and far apart.] Eleventh floor Long white hall Elevator waiting At the other wall Doors open there Doors open here Nobody moves Doors close Going up [Final Chorus] [Snap back to the full driving groove. Guitar rises while keys descend through it. Bass moves independently beneath both. Drums play the most active version of the pulse.] Pick a floor Any floor Nothing matches anymore Going up Going up Every door Somewhere else [Outro] [The floor indicator has passed the highest numbered floor. Keep the band moving. Bass returns to the opening three-note figure. Keys repeat the original four-note motif. Guitar builds ringing harmonics and feedback above them. Drums gradually simplify.] No number Bell goes once Doors slide open Nothing but sky [Hold the final instrumental passage. Bass continues as guitar and keys sustain conflicting notes. Drums stop first. End with the elevator motif unresolved.] [End]
