ELLE DUPREE — Everybody's Emergency Contact

[Intro] (phone vibrating on a wooden table, then a dial tone hums beneath a sparse felt-piano motif, no drums) [Verse 1 - intimate, breathy, close-mic vocal] (sparse Rhodes and felt piano, deep sub bass, brushed snare barely there) Cousin Keisha crying 'bout her rent again Daddy only calls when the car won't start Sister's wedding falling apart at 2AM And I'm the chapel, I'm the choir, I'm the ark I pick up, I always pick up Bandage everybody, never patch me up [Pre-Chorus - lift begins] (soft shaker enters, backing harmonies stack with each line) They say "you're so strong" — it's their favorite line 'Cause "strong" means they never gotta ask if I'm fine [Chorus - huge, anthemic] (full soft-kick drums, warm gospel-choir backing vocals, lush analog pads, smooth 808, wide stereo) I'm everybody's emergency contact First name on the list when the world goes black I'm the net that everybody falls in Ain't no net for me when I'm the one that's falling Dial tone humming in an empty flat Strong's just another word for "don't ask" I'm everybody's emergency contact [Verse 2 - stripped back, fragile] (Rhodes returns, everything pulls back except a heartbeat kick pulsing underneath) Last Tuesday, kitchen tile cold on my knees Held my phone an hour, maybe three Typed "I need you" — watched the cursor blink Then I deleted it faster than you could think 'Cause they'd probably laugh, they'd probably say "Girl, please — you always got it made" [Pre-Chorus - lift begins] (soft shaker enters, harmonies stack, slightly more urgency than the first time) They say "you're so strong" — and I let it ride 'Cause if I'm not the strong one, then who am I? [Chorus - huge, anthemic] (full drums, gospel-choir stacks, pads bloom wider) I'm everybody's emergency contact First name on the list when the world goes black I'm the net that everybody falls in Ain't no net for me when I'm the one that's falling Dial tone humming in an empty flat Strong's just another word for "don't ask" I'm everybody's emergency contact [Bridge - near silence, then the swell] (all instruments drop: piano and raw exposed vocal only, strings begin to swell under the final two lines) Here's the truth I never told a soul: I could change my number, let it ring, let go But a quiet phone's the loneliest sound I know So I keep the line open — that's the part I chose 'Cause being needed is the closest thing to being chosen [Final Chorus - biggest moment of the record] (everything in: full drums, 808, pads, gospel stacks, soulful ad-libs floating over the top) I'm everybody's emergency contact Ringer stays on, and I know why I keep it like that I need the needing like you need me back I'm the net that everybody falls in I'm falling too, I'm just falling quiet Dial tone humming in my empty flat Ask me tomorrow — I might take it back I'm everybody's emergency contact [Outro - soft, fading] (all instruments fall away: felt piano and dial tone only, vocal barely a whisper, dial tone fades to silence) Being needed is the closest thing to being chosen