[Intro] [Solo cello, candle quiet, no drums] [Choir hums low and wordless] [Verse 1] [Intimate, close and dry] I set one plate and poured a glass of red, lit one thin candle where the dark had bled. The flowers on the wall began to part, a hundred open mouths and one slow heart. [Pre-Chorus] [Rising, breath held] They think I came here running. I came to stay. I pulled my chair in close and turned away from the door, toward the wall, and softly said: [Chorus] [Full warm alto, choir answers each line] The walls take requests, so I ask for a song (Sing to me) The walls take requests, and the night is long (Sing to me) Every scream was a verse that was waiting for a word, so I sat at the table and I let them be heard. The walls take requests. [Verse 2] [Brushed snare enters, forward motion] The man in the oval frame has heard it all, he keeps the harmony from the eastern wall. The chandelier keeps time in six small flames, and one by one the mouths are finding names. [Pre-Chorus] [Rising, layered] Nobody sat with them. Nobody stayed. Nobody asked them what the shouting made. So I pulled my chair in close and softly said: [Chorus] [Full warm alto, choir answers each line] The walls take requests, so I ask for a song (Sing to me) The walls take requests, and the night is long (Sing to me) Every scream was a verse that was waiting for a word, so I sat at the table and I let them be heard. The walls take requests. [Bridge] [Stripped back, choir alone, then solo] (Sing to me, sing to me, sing to me) [Whispered, sung] You were never screaming, you were tuning up, waiting for a listener to lift the cup. I raise my glass to every face in the design. There is one chair empty. That one is not mine. [Final Chorus] [Soaring, full choir behind the lead] The walls take requests, so I ask for a song (Sing to me) The walls take requests, and the night is long (Sing to me) Every scream was a verse that was waiting for a word, so I sat at the table and I let them be heard. The walls take requests. [Outro] [Fading, choir hums, solo cello returns] Sing to me. (Sing to me) The walls take requests. [End]
