Man of the House (Edit)

[Verse 1 | warm piano | intimate female vocal] First place of my own My key, my door, my name Three suitcases, seven boxes Nothing quite where it should stay That lamp has got to go The curtains I can stand The sofa’s seen much better days But this is mine, and that’s the plan Then something white went past me Like it had somewhere to be I thought, “Whose cat is she?” The cat looked back at me [Verse 2 | upright bass enters | light brushes] Her name, apparently, is Muffin She apparently lives here too too Nobody thought to mention that Before I signed the lease, did you? Then someone set me straight On one important fact Muffin isn’t “she” He seemed offended that I asked [Chorus | acoustic guitar joins] He’s the man of the house I’ve come to understand He inspects every box I open Every shelf and every plan Keeps the sofa warm Keeps an eye on things And if I thought I lived alone I don’t know what I was thinking It’s my name there on the lease But we’ve quietly worked it out I pay the rent And Muffin is the man of the house [Verse 3 | gentle rhythmic lift] He keeps the pests away The ones with tails and those without Even our superintendent Doesn’t like when Muffin’s out One stare from down the hallway One warning from his throat And suddenly that smelly creep Remembers somewhere else to go He knows when I should wake up When dinner should appear When I’ve been gone too long And when I’ve worked too late in here I used to have a schedule Apparently he has one too And mine was wrong Who knew? [Chorus] He’s the man of the house I’ve come to understand He supervises breakfast With a firm but patient hand Keeps the sofa warm Keeps an eye on things And if I thought I made the rules I don’t know what I was thinking It’s my name there on the lease But we’ve quietly worked it out I buy the food And Muffin is the man of the house [Bridge | piano and vocal | softer] I said the bed was mine That seemed reasonable to me He listened very carefully Then disagreed First the corner Then the pillow Then wherever I had planned to be And somewhere in the argument I stopped minding company [Verse 4 | warm strings enter lightly] Now there’s milk and fish and chicken Little tins all in a row Half the things inside my fridge Are things I wouldn’t eat, you know I meant to buy myself some dinner But his food was running low Funny what becomes important When somebody needs you home [Final Chorus | warm, full but restrained] He’s the man of the house And I think I understand He didn’t need me moving in He had everything well planned Keeps the sofa warm Keeps watch while I sleep And somehow having someone here Has made this place feel more like me It’s my name there on the lease But there’s no question, no real doubt This is our home And Muffin is the man of the house [Outro | piano | brushes fade] First place of my own My key My door My cat [soft pause] All right Our apartment Don’t push it