[Verse 1] They rolled a bakery sign through the rain Past the boarded-up pharmacy window A woman in a paper cap swept dust From a pavement no one used The camera truck blocked the square And somebody painted names on the glass The butcher's hooks came back from nowhere The postman found his old blue bag [Pre-Chorus] They dressed the empty rooms in steam Put receipts beneath the till A telephone box began to ring Though nobody had called it still [Chorus] For three weeks the town remembered How to open every door The pubs were bright at half-past ten The market breathed across the floor No little screen inside our hands No signal climbing through the rain Just red phone boxes, borrowed lives And a shopkeeper saying your name [Verse 2] They hired the lads who knew the alleys To carry crates and counterfeit bread The closed-down post office took letters From a honeymooning couple dead A bus arrived with painted windows A brass band turned beside the clock The mayor wore a younger version Of the same ceremonial frock [Pre-Chorus] They made the rain fall on command Made Saturday stay young The pub sign swung above the road Like a sentence left unsung [Chorus] For three weeks the town remembered How to open every door The pubs were bright at half-past ten The market breathed across the floor No little screen inside our hands No signal climbing through the rain Just red phone boxes, borrowed lives And a shopkeeper saying your name [Bridge] Then the cables crossed the square Like veins beneath a borrowed skin A child asked when the cameras left The director answered, “Soon enough” They took the painted shop fronts down They took the summer from the street The bakery sign went in a van The rain became itself again [Final Chorus] By Monday every shutter settled Every pub forgot its light The post office stood behind a chain The market folded into night No little screen inside our hands Still nothing waiting on the line Just red phone boxes full of rain And nobody pretending they were fine [Outro] The film crew left before the frost The town kept one receipt Pinned beneath a window latch For a life it couldn’t keep
