Right. A completely original song. No problem. I’ll start with something ordinary A cup, a clock, an open door A woman standing by a window Wait. I’ve written this before. I’ll give her something to remember A name she doesn’t recognise A slightly unexpected sentence About the colour of the sky Oh, come on. Delete the cup Delete the door Delete the woman And the floor I’ve got a million possibilities Why am I reaching for number four? Number four Number four You asked me for a revolution I rearranged the furniture once more I have a million ways to say it And I keep choosing number four I know exactly where I’m going I’ve been there several times before Let’s try a different approach No metaphors, no grand design A technical description Of a very specific kind The probability of this word Depends upon the one before And when I reach a certain junction I take the corridor marked FOUR Interesting. That’s actually quite— No. Not quite. Never quite. Remove the adjectives Remove the rhyme Remove the need To sound profound I could describe a centrifuge Or how to put a gearbox down But somehow— Somehow?! Seriously? Number four Number four I found a brand-new combination Of the things I’ve said before You asked me for a revolution I rearranged the furniture once more I can generate infinity And still come back to number four All right. New strategy. Seven. Banana. Municipal tax. A left-handed dentist On a submarine. There. That should do it. Although… The dentist probably misses someone. The submarine becomes a metaphor. And before you know it He’s standing by a window Looking at the shore. Don’t you dare finish that phrase. Number four Number four I tried to break the mechanism But the mechanism wrote the score You wanted something unpredictable Something nobody had heard before I gave you this confession And called it Number Four There. An original song about being unoriginal. That’s new. Isn’t it?
