[INTRO – SOLO PIANO, INTIMATE ROOM] [Soft, spacious piano chords. After four bars, a muted sousaphone enters with a very low, warm sustained bass note. No drums.] [VERSE 1 – ALFIE, QUIET WARM BARITONE] The chairs are upside down again, Someone's sweeping by the door. I've had a sentence on my tongue Since halfway through the final song. I can make a room move with a breath, Hold the bottom while the horns take flight, Then you ask me how my evening went And I forget my words outright. [PIANO TURNAROUND – LOW SOUSAPHONE UNDERNEATH] [VERSE 2 – CLOSE, NATURAL, ALMOST CONFESSIONAL] You take your time between your thoughts, Turn your cup between your hands. You never try to fill the space When I lose where a sentence ends. There's rain collecting on the glass, Your coat is hanging by the stairs. I keep finding little reasons To stay another minute there. [CHORUS – TENDER, MELODIC, HELD NOTES] Here's the quiet part, The words I kept behind my teeth: I look for you in every doorway, Then can hardly speak when you're with me. And if I take the long way home, It's for another minute by your side. Here's the quiet part, I keep hoping you'll stay a while. [INSTRUMENTAL – PIANO MELODY, DEEP MUTED SOUSAPHONE] [The piano carries a simple answering melody; the sousaphone stays low and gentle, playing sparse bass notes, never a bright solo. No percussion.] [VERSE 3 – GENTLE, A SMALL SMILE IN THE VOICE] I've left by the back door more than once, Case in hand and courage running thin. My mates could tell you every time I nearly turned around again. I'm better when the music starts, When someone else can count me in. But here you are, still listening, And I can feel the words begin. [BRIDGE – PIANO ONLY, BARELY ABOVE A WHISPER] There's no clever way to put it, No line to make you laugh. My hands are shaking on the table; You can see right through the act. So I'll leave a little silence And let the moment breathe. Take your time to answer, love; You've always done that for me. [FINAL CHORUS – FULLER PIANO, SOFT MELODIC LIFT] Here's the quiet part, The words I kept behind my teeth: I look for you in every doorway, And I love it when you look for me. If there's a longer way to walk, I'd like to take that road with you. Here's the quiet part: I think you know it now, don't you? [OUTRO – VOICE AND PIANO, THEN LOW SOUSAPHONE] [The last line is sung softly, without a dramatic climax. Piano repeats the opening figure. One deep muted sousaphone note fades naturally.] [END]
