[Mood: Tragic rise-and-fall] [Energy: Low building to Explosive] [Intro] [Acoustic guitar | single-note voicings | room reverb | tape saturation] (hmm-mmm) [Verse 1 | intimate male tenor | sparse acoustic | syncopated phrasing] Kitchen light at midnight, father's voice like gravel A poster on the bedroom wall — a stranger with a guitar I learned four chords by candlelight, saved my bus fare in a tin Left before the morning came, guitar case in my hand (one way out) [Pre-Chorus: building intensity | bass slides in | drums enter | rising tension] One day they'll scream my name One day I'll matter to someone (one day) One day I'll matter to SOMEONE [Chorus | full band | anthemic stacked harmonies | heavy drums | distortion] Make me the idol, hang me on your wall I'll give you every chord I've got, I'll give you my all Print my face, sell the tickets, count the money in the till You're paying for the idol — and the boy behind him gets the bill (gets the bill) (the boy gets the bill) [Verse 2 | syncopated phrasing | tight rhythm section | driving] Now my name rides on the buses in towns I'll never see Twenty thousand voices singing every word back at me Painted face in the backstage mirror, hairspray and sweat Every hand wants a piece of me — and I ain't got enough left (not enough) [Pre-Chorus: building intensity | drums push forward | vocal tension rising] Everybody knows my name Nobody knows the man (the man) Nobody knows the MAN [Chorus | anthemic stacked harmonies | full band | gang vocals last line] Make me the idol, hang me on your wall I'll give you every chord I've got, I'll give you my all Print my face, sell the tickets, count the money in the till You're paying for the idol — and the boy behind him gets the bill (gets the bill) (the boy gets the bill) [Guitar Solo | heavy melodic lead | wide vibrato | heavy distortion | call-and-response with vocal stabs] [Bridge: stripped back | half-time | acoustic guitar and vocal only | intimate | falsetto on ascents] I drove home in a rented car, gold record on the seat My mother looked right through me from the door "I gave birth to a boy," she said, "I don't know who you are" And the gold felt heavier than lead (heavier than lead) (heavier than lea~d) [Final Chorus | full band returns | stacked harmonies | emotional release | gang shouts] They made me the idol, hung me on the wall I gave them every chord I had, I gave them my all Sold the tickets, kept the money, rolled the credits on the film Everybody bought the idol — now watch the idol fall (watch him fall) (the idol falls) [Outro | band drop-out | single acoustic guitar | sparse | fade out] Everybody knows my name (my name) Nobody knew the man (the man) [spoken word | dry | close mic] The idol gets the glory The boy gets the bill [guitar harmonic] [End]
