[Intro | male vocal half-spoken over groove, bass and drums building] [Male] Five years ago I stood in your signing line— [Male] and left before my turn. [Verse 1 | male lead vocal, taut and rhythmic, bass-driven groove] [Male] I read your proof the winter through, [Male] your equations sang on page ten. [Male] I typed "I love this theorem— [Male] and the mind behind it," then [Male] deleted half and sent half. [Male] A year of margins, late replies. [Male] Then October: your line again— [Male] this time you signed my book. Met my eyes. [Verse 2 | female lead vocal, hushed and urgent, groove tightening] [Female] Two a.m., you wrote it plainly— [Female] every word you'd sworn to keep. [Female] Unsend it. We won't speak of it. [Female] Some things die where they're not seen. [Female] My phone is not my own, you know— [Female] my house reads what I read. [Female] ...The workshop's still in March, though. [Female] Come. I'll save you a seat. [Chorus | male lead vocal, wide four-on-the-floor chorus, layered synths and guitar] [Male] So save my name as something else— [Male] an initial, a "study thing"— [Male] a thread about the seminar, [Male] the number you never ring. [Male] Love me under alias, [Male] loud as a silent phone— [Male] read me and delete me, darling, [Male] and no one has to know. [Verse 3 | female lead vocal, tender over stripped groove, building] [Female] They said no to the fellowship, [Female] the visa, the year away. [Female] My father just went quiet— [Female] You wrote: "then let me dream it— [Female] an hour of you a day." [Female] And on page nine, my footnote [Female] thanks "a careful reader." [Female] Love — that meant you. That means now. [Chorus | male lead vocal, wide four-on-the-floor chorus, darker intensity] [Male] So save my name as something else— [Male] an initial, a "study thing"— [Male] a thread about the seminar, [Male] the number you never ring. [Male] Love me under alias, [Male] loud as a silent phone— [Male] read me and delete me, darling— [Male] they must never, never know. [Bridge | tense, stripped to bass pulse and hushed close-mic vocals] [Female] Sunday dinner, phones face-down— [Female] mine lit the tablecloth. He looked: [Female] "Who is that?" — "A colleague." [Female] And the room went thunder-quiet. [Female] We fly home on Monday. [Female] You must think for both of us. [Male] I've thought. Don't pack for Monday. [Male] Saturday. I'll be outside. [Female] ...Saturday. [Final Chorus | euphoric full band, four-on-the-floor, both energy lifted, bright synths] [Male] Now save my name as what it is— [Male] no initial, no "study thing"— [Male] I'm the seat beside you, always, [Male] the number that can ring. [Male] Love me out of alias, [Male] loud as a ringing phone— [Male] say me and repeat me, darling, [Male] and let the whole world know. [Outro | groove settling to bass and drums, soft intimate vocals] [Female] One carry-on. Gate 4. [Female] I open up my contacts, [Female] delete the letter "M," [Female] type your name in full at last— [Both] and we never wrote again. [Both] We never needed to. [End]
