Watcher of the Fourth Wall

[Intro] In the paper sky A thin blue hinge Holds the picture still Till the corners sing A crack in the cartoon Bleeds through the lounge room wall Daddy adjusts the aerial Something steps through Tall [Verse 1] He comes in a coat of curtains Dust in the pleats Dead moths in the hem Says "I’ve lived between the adverts You keep changing the channel on them" Your teaspoons start applauding The teapot hides its steam His shadow eats the staircase Like it’s licking up a dream [Chorus] Watcher of the fourth wall Eyes pressed to the glass of our little play Keeps all the cuts we never saw Spools of our lives tucked safely away Watcher of the fourth wall Turns the dials Rewinds our fall If he lifts one finger Just one finger We forget it all [Verse 2] Mother folds the evening Into sharpened little squares Lines them like thin landmines Down the hallway on the stairs He tiptoes through the headlines Reads my name between the wars "Child You were almost edited To live behind these doors" [Chorus] Watcher of the fourth wall Eyes pressed to the glass of our little play Keeps all the cuts we never saw Spools of our lives tucked safely away Watcher of the fourth wall Turns the dials Rewinds our fall If he lifts one finger Just one finger We forget it all [Instrumental] [Drums surge into an odd-meter march Tom-heavy and tumbling. Organ swells in parallel chords Then folds into a nimble synth line that spirals upward. Guitar answers with jagged Sustained bends Then retreats to chiming arpeggios as piano takes over with a tumbling Classically-tinged solo. The band shifts through three tempo changes Landing in a tense Low-key groove with stuttering drum figures and eerie Mellotron chords before exploding back to full power.] [Verse 3] Now the lounge has grown a proscenium Curtains stitched from living room light Family framed in frozen poses Waiting for their lines at night He hands me a cardboard sceptre Crown of bottle tops and string Says "Rule them kindly Little prince But remember who pulls the ring" [Pre-Chorus] On the back of the wallpaper Are all our unused days Crossed out in crayon constellations In an attic of delays (hey!) [Chorus] Watcher of the fourth wall Eyes pressed to the glass of our little play Keeps all the cuts we never saw Spools of our lives tucked safely away Watcher of the fourth wall Turns the dials Rewinds our fall If he lifts one finger Just one finger We forget it all [Bridge] I step through the flicker Into the margin between frames Hear the laughter of the audience Who never learned our names He whispers "Take your bow now Then tear the canvas down" So I claw through the projection And tumble out of town The lounge implodes in silence Television snow like gentle hail I’m standing in the scribbled world Beneath the carpet nail [Instrumental] [Drums snap into a polyrhythmic assault Riding cymbals and rolling toms. A towering organ figure climbs stepwise Answered by a searing Tremolo-laden guitar melody. Synth leads morph and modulate Trading quick-fire phrases with the guitar over stabbing chord hits. The band brakes hard into a delicate Music-box piano motif Then gradually layers drums Bass And Mellotron into a massive Slow-building crescendo.] [Final Chorus] Watcher of the fourth wall Now I see the strings above the stage All of your reels Your secret spools Rusting in their cage Watcher of the fourth wall You blink once And cracks appear Through every frame Through every fear I step right through (I step right through) And leave you here [Outro]