[Intro] (a lone klezmer clarinet and freylekh fiddle wind a bittersweet line over button accordion and shimmering tsimbl, warm Rhodes, upright bass, spring reverb) [Verse 1] (brushed drums and upright bass with a gentle sway, clarinet sighing under a hushed vocal, tape saturation) Nobody hands you a script when your father goes quiet in the bed No second take on the last thing you say, no rehearsing it first in your head You walk in cold and you fumble the line, heart going off like a drum And that's the take, the only one — there is no practice run [Pre-Chorus] (fiddle and pedal steel rising, accordion swelling, the sway leaning in) They train you for the fire drill, the test, the interview downtown But the ones that leave a mark for good, you're a rookie when they come around [Chorus] (clarinet and close harmonies bloom, freylekh fiddle soaring, joyous and teary at once) No dress rehearsal, no dress rehearsal Not for the vows, not for the goodbye at the gate You're an amateur forever at the things that make you First time, every time, and you do it anyway — shaking, and it's great No dress rehearsal, and you show up anyway [Verse 2] (back to the swaying groove, tsimbl and accordion trading, clarinet answering) First time you hold the baby your hands don't know the weight First time you say "I do" your voice cracks halfway through the date You never get to warm up, never get to run it twice The sacred stuff's all opening night, and nobody read you the price [Pre-Chorus] (fiddle and pedal steel climbing again, building) So you learn it while you're living it, you build the boat mid-sea You're the world's worst expert at the only things that mean a thing to me [Chorus] (full accordion and harmonies, the room opening wide) No dress rehearsal, no dress rehearsal Not for the vows, not for the goodbye at the gate You're an amateur forever at the things that make you First time, every time, and you do it anyway — shaking, and it's great No dress rehearsal, and you show up anyway [Bridge] (drops to clarinet and hushed vocal and soft tsimbl, then a slow tender build) And maybe that's the mercy of it, maybe that's the grace That you can't get slick and rehearsed at a thing you do one time and face Nobody's smooth at the graveside, nobody's cool at the vow So we're all just trembling rookies here — and there's nowhere to be but now [Instrumental solo] (a soaring klezmer clarinet and freylekh fiddle solo trading ecstatic lines with pedal steel over the accordion and tsimbl, building to a whirling peak) [Final Chorus] (biggest lift, whirling and full, harmonies wide) No dress rehearsal, no dress rehearsal And I quit waiting to be ready 'cause ready doesn't come You just love it while it's burning, you just hold it while it's here First time, every time, and you do it scared — that's the only way it's done No dress rehearsal, so I'm all in, everyone [Outro] (the clarinet and fiddle ease back to the intro figure, accordion and tsimbl fading, upright bass settling, spring reverb trailing off)
