[Acoustic Intro: | TAG: Chords: G - D - Em - C It is the same hopeful progression but slower, heavier, sadder: | TAG: The broken, tentative acoustic strum from the end of Act II finds a chord progression. It’s simple, honest, and weary. | TAG: A harmonica cries softly in the distance:] (Verse 1 - Wounded:) Like my father's ghost came to read my shallow prose I saw the future in a footnote that nobody knows The ink's gone dry on the apology A footnote in my own mythology The venues empty, the buses gone A silent phone, a muted dawn And all the words I autographed in greed Are just dead leaves from a poisoned seed (Pre-Chorus - Building:) Here comes the rain again Falling on the rented suite Washing off the magazine grin And the blisters on my feet Twenty years of "just one more" Has bolted shut a closing door… (CHORUS - Emotional Release:) So wake me up when the tour ends When the last contract finally bends And breaks me free When the "yes men" pack and drive away And the silence has its final say On what's left of me Wake me up… when it's over, please. (Verse 2 - Memory:) I remember the smell of the basement air The truth was tangled in an old desk chair Before the advance, before the lie When the only deadline was the sky I traded that desk for a laminate pass I watched my younger spirit choke on gas In the green room of a thousand lies With dollar signs in its eyes (Pre-Chorus:) Here comes the rain again Falling on the rented suite Washing off the magazine grin And the blisters on my feet Twenty years of "just one more" Has bolted shut a closing door… (CHORUS:) So wake me up when the tour ends When the last contract finally bends And breaks me free When the "yes men" pack and drive away And the silence has its final say On what's left of me Wake me up… when it's over. [Bridge - Guitar Solo: |TAG: The band has fully arrived. The drums are steady, the bass is deep. A clean, soaring electric guitar takes a solo. It’s not flashy—Four chords: G - D - Em - C: but now playing a melody of pure, wordless regret. It cries, it yearns, it apologizes:] [Final, Huge Chorus: Strings swell. The vocal is a strained, desperate yell, pushing past brokenness.] SO WAKE ME UP WHEN THE TOUR ENDS! WHEN THE LAST CONTRACT FINALLY BENDS AND BREAKS ME FREE! WHEN THE "YES MEN" PACK AND DRIVE AWAY! AND THE SILENCE HAS ITS FINAL SAY ON WHAT'S LEFT OF ME! WAKE ME UP! WAKE ME UP! WAKE ME UP… WHEN IT'S OOOOOOVER! [Outro - Fade to Acoustic: | TAG: The huge sound collapses. The strings fade. The drums drop out. We are left with just the acoustic guitar from the intro, strumming the same progression, now sounding even more alone. It plays the progression twice, then stops on an unresolved chord. Silence. | TAG: In the silence, we hear the faint, hesitant clicking of a computer keyboard. One key at a time. This is the segue into the final epic:]
