[Intro - intimate melody] Back to business. That's what I said. Funny little business With nobody in the bed. [Verse 1] Great sadness over the kingdom, No trumpet, just your keys in the bowl. Queen left a square on the carpet Where the side of the dresser used to go. King in a chair with a drink getting warm, Giving out orders to keep himself company. Every candle lit, still all of them gone; You can't buy a witness by keeping the TV on. Tell the whole town that the people are fine, They don't need a speech about a heart like mine. I can run the room, I can win the day; Doesn't make somebody want to stay. [Hook - melodic, layered own voice] King of an empty house, Crown on the kitchen counter. Why'd I want to make it big If you weren't coming round? All these rooms to walk through, No one asking where I've been. King of an empty house; I don't want to rule again. [Verse 2] I sweat the small stuff till the atom feels large, Magnify a pause till it pulls us apart. Wanted everything right down to the decimal, Couldn't let a little wrong be forgettable. Took a whole love, made a court out of it, Won every point, got no one to sit with. Now I'm not casting you out as a villain; Two people hurt, neither one good at listening. I don't need a moat, I don't need a throne, Need to put the glass down, learn to be alone. When I say your name, let it mean what it meant, Not a closing argument I keep rehearsing. [Hook] King of an empty house, Crown on the kitchen counter. Why'd I want to make it big If you weren't coming round? All these rooms to walk through, No one asking where I've been. King of an empty house; I don't want to rule again. [Bridge] Open the gate. Let the title go. We were people Before we put on robes. [Final Hook - nearly bare] King of an empty house, Morning at the kitchen counter. Make a cup for one this time. Let the coffee cool. [End]
