[INTRO – CLOSE-MIC PIANO] [Male spoken, amused] someone asked me: “How old are you?” I said: “54” … He stared at me. “Seriously? I thought - 45. Maximum.” [tiny notification ping] [Male spoken] Well - technically, he wasn’t entirely wrong. [VERSE – SOFT RHODES, WARM PULSE] I’ve got 54 years behind me, and 5 since I started again, one birthday written in numbers, one written under my skin. My heart stopped 3 times in August, then somehow remembered the beat, I woke up a new lifetime with another horizon to meet. So take 54 and add 5 years, divide all that by 2: Twenty-nine point 5. … Emotionally accurate. Mathematically … questionable tho. [TINY GLITCH INTERLUDE] [Tiny calculator beeps] [Female spoken] “54 plus 5, divided by 2 … is twenty-nine point 5.” [Male spoken] “Exactly.” [Female spoken] “That is not how age works.” [Male spoken] “It is when your heart restarts.” [tiny thoughtful hum] [HOOK – BAND OPENS GENTLY] I’m almost 30, second time around, 54 years behind me, five with my feet back on the ground. I don’t count the wrinkles, I count what lies ahead, you don’t grow old from living — you grow old when your future’s dead. I’m almost thirty, still curious, still free, I’ve already lived through 30 once … now 30 gets another shot at me. [VERSE – LIVELY ORGANIC GROOVE] I’m not planning my retirement, I’m planning the next flight out, another song that needs a chorus, another story to write about. Untold waiting in Romania, Dubai glowing after dark, friends who call me late on video because somebody had a spark. My calendar has more future than yesterday could ever hold, and every empty square keeps asking: “What are we doing next?” Not: “How are we getting old?” [PRE-HOOK] I don’t measure age in birthdays. I measure it in things I cannot wait to do. [HOOK] I’m almost 30, second time around, 54 years behind me, five with my feet back on the ground. I don’t count the wrinkles, I count what lies ahead, you don’t grow old from living — you grow old when your future’s dead. I’m almost 30, still curious, still free, I’ve already lived through 30 once … now thirty gets another shot at me. [TINY POST-CREDIT INTERRUPTION] [tiny phone vibration] [Female spoken] “You run a tax company, write books, make music and go to festivals?” [Male spoken] “Yes.” [Female spoken] “At 54?” [Male spoken] “Almost 30.” [tiny error beep] [Male spoken] “sometimes … ich eskaliere mich.” [tiny party horn, abruptly cut off] [VERSE – MORE DRIVE, BRIGHTER GUITARS] I learned nobody can save me, or manufacture happiness inside, so I stopped waiting for permission and finally chose my own side. I cook, I travel, I create things, I dance while morning fills the sky, not because I’m scared of ageing — I already tried it once. It was fine. Then I went back for another try. I’ve got scars beneath the laughter, but they’re not where my story ends, they’re only proof I reached tomorrow with another song and better friends. [BRIDGE – EVERYTHING FALLS AWAY, SOLO PIANO] [Male spoken] People think youth lives in your face. It doesn’t. It lives in your calendar. you still make plans? you still have unfinished songs? Flights you want to take? People you want to meet? Nights you want to remember? Good. Then you’re younger than you think. [short silence] You don’t become old when the years move forward. You become old when you stop looking forward. [HEARTBEAT-LIKE PIANO OCTAVES BEGIN] [Male sung, building] Three times my heart stopped beating. One time my life began. I didn’t return to become who I was. I came back to become who I am. [PIANO FURIOSO RISE – RAPID RUNS, PULSING SYNTHS] [Male sung] Still making noise! Still booking flights! Still starting things at midnight! Still saying yes to stupid dreams that suddenly feel right! I don’t need youth inside a mirror! I need tomorrow in my sight! [FULL BAND EXPLODES – FESTIVAL-WIDE BUT HUMAN] [FINAL HOOK] I’m almost thirty, second time around, fifty-four years behind me, five with my feet back on the ground. I don’t count the wrinkles, I count what lies ahead, you don’t grow old from living — you grow old when your future’s dead. I’m almost thirty, still curious, still free, with music in my bloodstream and another world to see. I’ve already lived through thirty once, and honestly — it turned out fine. Now I’m coming back for more … a little louder the second time. [CHOIR] Almost 30! Almost 30! Still alive! Still curious! Still burning inside! [ABRUPT SILENCE] [OUTRO – TINY PIANO NOTES] [Male spoken, smiling] So yes … in September, I’m turning 30. Again. [tiny calculator beep] [Female spoken] “mathematically incorrect.” [Male spoken] “emotionally precise.” [tiny pause] [Female spoken] “What are you looking forward to?” [Male spoken] “Untold.” [tiny synth sparkle] [Female spoken] “Obviously.” [Male spoken] And after that? [short pause] I’ll think of something. I always do. [tiny festival bass hit] [Male spoken] “Ich eskaliere mich.”
