[Verse 1: deep booming baritone male MC, slow and heavy on the knocking drums] Three o'clock in the mornin' and the whole building's asleep Then somewhere in the hallway there's a sharp little beep One chirp, then nothin', forty seconds on the clock Then another little chirp from the ceiling by the lock You been chirpin' "That ain't real" since the middle of July "That ain't music, that ain't music," never tellin' us why So I dragged a kitchen chair out, climbed up, sniffin' for the smoke Ain't a flame in the building, man, the only thing that's broke Is the nine-volt in your belly, it's been fadin' since the spring You been hollerin' at the hallway, and you never warned a thing [Hook: deep booming baritone male MC, the baritone sax doubling every line] That ain't a fire alarm, that's a low battery Every forty seconds you be chirpin' at me Ain't no fire on the floor, ain't no smoke in the hall You ain't warnin' us 'bout nothin' but your dyin', that's all [Verse 2: baritone MC, the sax answering every couplet] Mrs. Okafor in 4B put a dish towel on the vent And the twins in 6C want a discount on the rent 'Cause you holler at the toaster and you holler at the steam And you hollered at a birthday cake with candles in the cream So the whole floor learned the routine, wave a towel and wait it out Now the toddlers wave a dish rag 'fore they even learn to shout You ain't stoppin' any party and you ain't savin' a soul You just squeakin' at the ceiling 'cause you're scared of gettin' old [Hook] That ain't a fire alarm, that's a low battery Every forty seconds you be chirpin' at me Ain't no fire on the floor, ain't no smoke in the hall You ain't warnin' us 'bout nothin' but your dyin', that's all [Tape Stop: on the last chirp the whole band pitches down and grinds to a halt, then slams back in] One more chirp, then a long low groan And the hallway went dead like a dropped phone [Verse 3: baritone MC, heavier, every bar landing on the kick] Then last Friday night I dropped it and the eighth floor caught on fire Mrs. Okafor in curlers, every step a little higher Twins up on the radiator, sweat was drippin' off the walls Super brought his ladder up and now he's dancin' in the halls And the one thing in the building built to holler 'bout a flame Sat up on the ceiling like he never knew my name Not a chirp, not a peep, not a single thing to shout That's the night I figured out what you was always all about So I climbed up on the chair again and twisted off your lid Took the nine-volt for my microphone, and look at what it did Half a charge, and it was loud enough to rock the whole eighth floor Same battery, better owner, that's what batteries are for [Hook] That ain't a fire alarm, that's a low battery Every forty seconds you be chirpin' at me Ain't no fire on the floor, ain't no smoke in the hall You ain't warnin' us 'bout nothin' but your dyin', that's all [End]
