[intro — 92 bpm psychedelic grunge, dropped guitar riff thick and slow, dusty kick, snare with dry crack, deep bass mono, wide backward guitar swells l↔r, distant Leslie-style organ haze, analog tape grain, huge open room, repeating signature riff center] [male vocal, american accent, gritty baritone-to-high belt, intimate verse delivery, explosive sustained chorus, close mic, plate reverb, short slap delay on key words] [low voice ad-lib] stay soft... [verse 1] there’s a dent in the door from the winter before and a dead payphone by the grocery store truck stop coffee and a torn-up flyer kids throw bottles in a shopping cart fire street lamps buzzing by the liquor sign glow someone cut the screen on the second-floor window bus brakes screaming at the edge of dawn and the whole block acts like nothing’s wrong i kept your note in a cigarette tin three words crossed out, then written again now the sink drips time in a one-room flat and the radio talks like it knows where you’re at [short instrumental break — main riff 2x, reverse guitar sweep, tom fill] [pre-chorus] slow turn bad spark thin grin parked car something in the air says run something in my chest says don’t [room voice repeat] says don’t... [chorus] glass on the avenue shine till the whole thing bends glass on the avenue cut me and call me friend spin me through the afternoon hard luck honey, let it bloom glass on the avenue i come back bright for you [crowd response] for you... for you... [post-chorus — guitar sustain, vocal fall, wide doubles] back bright back bright [verse 2 — fuller drums, bass pushes harder, organ wider] mailbox open with the letters wet your name still hanging in the landlord’s breath check-cashing light throws red on the curb old men laughing like they never get hurt taxi meter ticking by the laundromat a preacher on the corner in a baseball cap said every little wreck leaves a mark somewhere i said mine’s right here and i pointed at air you wore that green coat down to the seam talked big talk like a movie screen said love don’t leave, it changes shape then vanished fast as a rolling freight [short instrumental break — riff choked tight, cymbal wash, bass glide] [pre-chorus] cold hand screen door one step want more every little lie feels true when the world comes leaning through [room voice repeat] leaning through... [chorus] glass on the avenue shine till the whole thing bends glass on the avenue cut me and call me friend spin me through the afternoon hard luck honey, let it bloom glass on the avenue i come back bright for you [hook break — half-time drums, vocal stack wide l↔r] bright for you bright for you [low voice ad-lib] still do... [bridge — psychedelic lift, suspended chords, toms and reverse guitars rising] at half past two the faucet clicks the floorboard talks, the plaster splits a train rolls by and shakes the spoon the kitchen light hums out of tune i see your face in the microwave glass in a busted frame, in a schoolyard pass not like a ghost not like a dream more like a stain in the silver sheen [build — drums open, guitar feedback controlled, vocal climbs] if i let go if i let go who gets the fire who gets the smoke [final chorus — full power, high belted lead, stacked harmonies] glass on the avenue shine till the whole thing bends glass on the avenue cut me and call me friend spin me through the afternoon hard luck honey, let it bloom glass on the avenue i come back bright for you [extended outro chorus — ad-libs, sustained belts, guitars blooming wide] for you for you back bright back bright glass on the avenue [outro — main riff alone, organ fading, one final reverse guitar pull, room tail]
