[Hook] (a 1962 voice, wheezing through vinyl static) "...one-two-three, and turn..." Verse 1 Grandmother's basement, dust in the light, a tuba breathing on a Tuesday night. I found you spinning where the dance hall died, I put you back on, I stepped outside. Nobody's watching who's under the sheet, the mystery's the only thing you get to keep. Count the lights out, count the phones, I'm a hymn you hum but never quite own. Pre-Chorus Ninety-nine to go, and I ain't slowing down, the ghost don't stop for a crying crowd. You came for the drop, you stayed for the doubt — that's the whole religion, that's what it's about. Chorus Sheet, sheet, twenty-one, same old song not quite done. Kidnapped the polka, took it to the fire, asked it real nice what it desired. It cried like a church that forgot its name — now the whole world's dancing just the same. Sheet, sheet, twenty-one, ghost don't rest till the ghost is gone. Verse 2 Carpathian valley, a call in the hills, a shepherd who's missing, a silence that fills. I stitched him under the low end, slow, so you'd feel like home somewhere you don't know. Bats in the dark and a hand on the vinyl, the needle don't lie though the story might spiral. You want my face — I'll give you the beat. You want the truth — go stand in the heat. Pre-Chorus Ninety-nine to go, and the tide don't care, I'm the space between the here and there. You built me first on a vision board — now watch the thing you wanted get bored. Chorus Sheet, sheet, twenty-one, same old song not quite done. Kidnapped the polka, took it to the fire, asked it real nice what it desired. It cried like a church that forgot its name — now the whole world's dancing just the same. Sheet, sheet, twenty-one, ghost don't rest till the ghost is gone. Bridge — half-speed, no drums (this part exists on only one bootleg; the others cut straight to the outro) Somewhere a cedar chest, somewhere a bar, somewhere a man who don't know who you are. He's pouring a drink, he ain't looking for fame — he's the only one here not playing the game. Maybe that's why the needle finds him last. Maybe the ghost is just missing the past. Outro — drums return, fading Sheet, sheet, twenty-one... (fade to a single accordion note, held four bars too long, then nothing)
