[Intro] [chorus guitar riff, Mellotron flute answers, drums kick in on bar 3] [Verse 1] [close vocal, bass walking, light groove] She straightens up her sleeves and checks her face, and flies along the streets without permission, and boards the city at a pirate’s pace — no time for trifles, prose is not her mission. [Pre-Chorus] [drums build, Wurlitzer swells] Some trace of gods still lingers in her blood: she rules the weather of emotion, her beauty — lawless as the ocean… She rushes past me, and all at once… [Chorus] [full band, doubled vocal, flute hook] I got a wink from Autumn — I winked back with delight! She paints herself in amber light, and I — a corner dab. I got a wink from Autumn — November’s deadline’s tight! [Verse 2] [groove drops to bass + guitar, ironic tone] A royal laziness runs through her brush, in long and silken hushes; in sorrow, brighter still she blushes, as in a hat that’s knocked askew. [Pre-Chorus] [tambourine enters, long build] And if she’s late, she’ll turn to fuming, give passers’ coats a fever till tomorrow… But still her gift for woe will win the day — she’ll weep with joy that’s borrowed from her sorrow… And we, the weather’s ever-faithful servitors, will mince beneath umbrellas — all at once… [Chorus] [full band, falsetto ad-libs] I got a wink from Autumn — I winked back with delight! She paints herself in amber light, and I — a corner dab. I got a wink from Autumn — November’s deadline’s tight! [Bridge] [half-time, Mellotron flute alone, tape wobble, intimate vocal] She’ll glance down from the cornice and say: “You funny people!” She’ll flip the hourglass round — like us, the sand runs down. [tape-stop] [Final Chorus] [band crashes back, brighter, key lift] I got a wink from Autumn — I winked back with delight! So let her paint her portrait bright as first white flakes alight! [ad-lib, backing vocal] (we’ve come a long, long way…) I got a wink from Autumn — and I — a corner dab! [Outro] [guitars ring out, flute hook, drums fade to hi-hat] The countdown’s over. Streets are white with snow. But I remember — and smiling, on the run, I go. [final tape slowdown, one flute note]
