[Intro | iconic jangly riff + thick bass | raw early-70s tone] [2–4 bars riff intro, bass locked-in, drums enter on bar 3–5.] --- [Verse 1 |Mid-range Male lead sly/confident | riff driving, steady groove] Velvet table, cheap gold lamp, smoke curling up like a question. She’s got a deck with softened edges, thumb-stained, handled, kept in rotation. I drop a coin, it rings once, like I’m buying five minutes of theater. She doesn’t smile, she just deals, like she’s seen me on a bad receiver. First card lands, face down, and the room gets quieter than it should. I joke anyway, lean back, act like I’m carved out of wood. --- [Chorus 1 | chantable suspense hook | fuller band, slight psych edge] Cut the deck, hold your tongue, keep your eyes where the light can’t lie. Turn it slow, let it breathe, let the answer take its time. If you came for a sign tonight, don’t shrink when it arrives. --- [Verse 2 | Mid-range Male lead, confidence slipping | riff tighter, bass more hypnotic] Second card lands and I feel it, like a handprint under my shirt. She says one word, then nothing, lets the silence do the work. I watch her nail tap the table, soft, steady, counting my breath. My laugh comes out a little late, like it took the wrong exit. There’s a line in the felt between us, there’s a mark where the deck’s been cut. I tell myself it’s parlor smoke, but my hands won’t settle down much. --- [Bridge | psychedelic breakdown drop | echo guitar, pulsing bass, sparse drums | female vocal lead] The lamp flickers. Suspense walks in. Flip the card, don’t turn away. (Female lead, close-mic, calm and commanding) [Instrumental carries 8–16 bars: bass pulse, echo guitar swells, minimal drum hits, rising tension. Then slam back into the riff.] --- [Final Chorus | bigger, darker lift | riff returns, drums punchier, wry female vocals] Cut the deck, hold your tongue, keep your eyes where the light can’t lie. Turn it slow, let it breathe, let the answer take its time. If you came for a sign tonight, don’t shrink when it arrives. --- [Outro | Mid-range male vocals, riff strips back, tension hangs | card flip implied, face unseen] She turns it over with one finger, like it weighs more than it should. I see the edge, the ink, the gloss, then I don’t see more. Halos on the ceiling. Silence on the felt. I’m outside in the bigger dark… You ever seen something you can’t unsee?
