[Intro – short, crackling 1930s gramophone recording, a distant old-fashioned voice sings softly over piano and eerie glass harmonica, then the old recording abruptly cuts to the beat] Don't sing along… [Verse 1 – pulsing synth arpeggio and steady driving beat, voice raspy, warm and intimate, with long reverb] Halloween night at the edge of the fair An old man sold me a record with nothing written there He said, "Play it tonight when the dead are near But if you sing along there's a choir in here" [Pre-Chorus – beat continues softly underneath, rising filter, voice building in intensity] I tried to lift the needle up The needle wouldn't lift I yanked the plug out of the wall And it didn't even skip [Chorus – full driving beat, wide soaring synths, voice at full power, gritty and heartfelt, faint ghostly layered voices] Don't sing along Don't even tap your shoe It's only a song Till it's singing you Can you hear the choir? They were listening too [Verse 2 – beat keeps driving, icy pads, voice raspy and tender] The crackle filled with voices I had never known And one of them was the old man's own A girl who'd only sung to her bedroom wall A man who stuttered singing clearest of all [Pre-Chorus 2 – beat softer underneath, dark piano and voice in front, fragile, rising filter] I pressed my hand against my mouth I held my breath so long But the melody rose like water Like it knew where it belonged [Chorus – bigger, full driving beat, voice raw and powerful, ghostly voices louder and closer] Don't sing along Don't even tap your shoe It's only a song Till it's singing you Can you hear the choir? They were listening too [Post-Chorus – melodic glass harmonica answers the voice, ghostly voices echoing, beat keeps driving] Singing you Singing you Till it's singing you [Bridge – the beat falls away, the crackling gramophone sound returns, only piano and voice, voice raspy and vulnerable, cracking with emotion] One night a year The dead take the stage I sang along on purpose I wanted them to stay I'm tired of empty rooms That only sing back what I say [heartbeat kick and arpeggio come back in, voice turning darker and more knowing] So when the song is over And everything goes still And you're humming something old Against your will That's your first note [Final Chorus – key change up, explosive, loudest and biggest section of the song, full beat, biggest synths, many ghostly layered voices, voice raspy, dark and raw, fully sung, long held note on "encore"] Now sing along You've heard it before It's only a song And you're the encore Can you hear the choir? They're giving you the floor [Post-Chorus – glass harmonica and ghostly voices join in, growing, beat keeps driving] Singing you Singing you Till it's singing you [Outro – the beat cuts out, only the crackling gramophone recording and a fading glass harmonica remain, the lead voice now sounds old and far away, as if trapped on the record] Don't sing along…
