[Intro | warm upright piano | soft room tone]

[Verse 1 | smoky low mezzo | tender, close]
We lived right where the blacktop ends,
A tin roof rattling overhead.
Momma kept the holes patched so they wouldn’t show,
Daddy worked till dark with nowhere left to go.

[Pre-Chorus | gentle build | brushed snare enters]
The washer had a knock, a steady beat,
Momma humming low kept time with her feet.
We didn’t have much, but it never felt small —
That house had a rhythm running through it all.

[Chorus | warm soulful lift]
I found a broomstick, I found the moon,
Stood in the kitchen and I found my tune.
Didn’t need lessons, didn’t need a name —
Something in my chest just caught like a flame.

[Verse 2 | slightly fuller | still intimate]
Three of us packed round one kitchen chair,
Never much money, but plenty to spare.
Momma sang low over supper going cold,
Daddy kept time like a story being told.

[Pre-Chorus | gentle build | brushed snare enters]
The washer had a knock, a steady beat,
Momma humming low kept time with her feet.
We didn’t have much, but it never felt small —
That house had a rhythm running through it all.

[Chorus | warm soulful lift]
I found a broomstick, I found the moon,
Stood in the kitchen and I found my tune.
Didn’t need lessons, didn’t need a name —
Something in my chest just caught like a flame.

[Bridge | stripped back | piano and vocal only]
Up in my room, I’d practice alone,
Finding a voice that was my own.
Then I’d carry it down to that kitchen chair,
Where Momma and Daddy were always there.

[Final Chorus | fuller, warmer]
I found a broomstick, I found the moon,
Stood in the kitchen and I found my tune.
Didn’t need lessons, didn’t need a name —
Something in my chest just caught like a flame.

[Outro | fading piano]
Still hear that washer keeping time.

[Intro | Wurlitzer riff | handclaps]

[Verse 1 | low smoky vocal | sly phrasing]
Apron string, lipstick stain,
Coffee on my sleeve again.
Clock says five but my feet say ten,
Smile for the men with the folding pens.
I wipe down tables, I count my change,
I sing in the freezer to keep from rage.
Boss man says, “Girl, you look tired.”
I say, “Good, that means I’m still on fire.”

[Pre-Chorus | horns answer]
One shift pays the rent,
One shift feeds the dream.
I got blisters in my shoes,
And brass inside my bloodstream.

[Chorus | horn-kissed groove]
I’m a double shift saint,
With no halo on.
Punching that clock,
Then singing till dawn.
If heaven is a stage light,
I’ll meet it late.
Lord, I’m running on fumes,
But I don’t break.
I’m a double shift saint.

[Verse 2 | more attitude]
Motel keys and a diner tray,
Practice rooms I couldn’t pay.
Every no had a neon face,
Every yes made me wait in place.
I learned my rhythm from dirty floors,
From closing time and slammed back doors.
If I got holy, it wasn’t in pews,
It was making rent in secondhand shoes.

[Bridge | drums drop | spoken-sung]
Don’t call me lucky,
Not till you know
How many mornings
I swallowed whole.

[Final Chorus | bigger horns | vocal grit]
I’m a double shift saint,
With no halo on.
Punching that clock,
Then singing till dawn.
If heaven is a stage light,
I’ll meet it late.
I’m running on fumes,
But I don’t break.
I’m a double shift saint.

[Outro | band hits]
Two jobs, one name,
Still burning the flame.

[Intro | piano in a noisy room | glass clinks]

[Verse 1 | close vocal | low chest voice]
Tuesday night, nobody came to hear me,
They came to drink and disappear.
Bartender laughed with the back room open,
Somebody spilled their second beer.
I had one dress and three good chords,
A borrowed mic that shocked my hand.
I opened my mouth to the cheap blue smoke,
Not one soul turned to understand.

[Pre-Chorus | bass walks in]
So I bent the first word crooked,
Let the silence take the bait.
Pulled the second one behind the beat,
And made the whole room wait.

[Chorus | room falls quiet | soulful lift]
The room didn’t listen,
Till it heard itself in me.
All that clatter went missing,
Like the walls forgot to breathe.
I wasn’t loud, I wasn’t pretty,
I just told the truth in time.
The room didn’t listen,
Then the room became mine.

[Verse 2 | stronger]
Man in the corner stopped his talking,
Woman at the bar looked down.
Somebody’s lighter froze mid-flame,
Nobody made a sound.
That’s when I learned a voice can enter
Places money never can.
One low note through a dirty speaker,
And I became my own plan.

[Bridge | almost spoken]
No crown, no sign,
No promise, no proof.
Just a room full of strangers
Getting hit with the truth.

[Final Chorus | fuller band]
The room didn’t listen,
Till it heard itself in me.
All that clatter went missing,
Like the walls forgot to breathe.
I wasn’t loud, I wasn’t pretty,
I just told the truth in time.
The room didn’t listen,
Then the room became mine.

[Outro | trumpet echo]
Then the room became mine.

[Intro | Rhodes | soft room hiss]

[Verse 1 | intimate low vocal]
Dad called twice while I was loading in,
I watched his name go dark again.
Told myself I’d call him after soundcheck,
After tips, after rent, after one more chance.
I keep his key on a silver ring,
It knocks my ribs when I start to sing.
Little brass house in my coat pocket,
Saying, “Girl, you still got somewhere to land.”

[Chorus | slow soul lift]
I’m almost home,
But almost don’t arrive.
Almost says it loves you,
Then leaves you on the line.
Daddy keeps the porch light,
I keep chasing chrome.
Every road I take says,
Baby, you’re almost home.

[Verse 2 | brushed drums enter]
He don’t ask why I never stay,
Just says, “Drive safe,” in his careful way.
That kindness cuts like a kitchen knife,
Makes me want to run and save my life.
Some nights I’m one song from the door,
Then the crowd calls out and I need one more.
I hate the dream when it wins that fight,
Then I feed it again by morning light.

[Bridge | piano only]
If forgiveness is a room,
He left it open wide.
I’m the one out on the steps,
Too ashamed to step inside.

[Final Chorus | warm harmony]
I’m almost home,
But almost don’t arrive.
Almost says it loves you,
Then leaves you on the line.
Daddy keeps the porch light,
I keep chasing chrome.
Every road I take says,
Baby, you’re almost home.

[Outro | whispered]
Almost home.

[Intro | ticking rimshot | minor Wurlitzer]

[Verse 1 | tense conversational]
Phone in my hand, contract on the table,
Rent overdue, but they might still take me.
First real door with a name on the glass,
First real chance I could almost grasp.
Momma was coughing through the kitchen line,
Said, “Baby, I’m tired, but I’m doing fine.”
Everybody lies when they’re trying to be brave,
Everybody smiles with one foot in the grave.

[Pre-Chorus | horns low]
I said, “After this meeting,
After this song,
After this one little almost,
I’m coming home.”

[Chorus | groove tightens]
Before the break,
Before the light,
Before my name got spelled out right,
Before the door swung open wide,
Something was closing on the other side.
I was one breath late,
One road too long,
Singing my future
Over Momma’s gone.

[Verse 2 | more urgent]
Producer smiled like a cigarette spark,
Said, “You got pain, girl, you got art.”
I wanted to slap him, I wanted to win,
I wanted the world to let me back in.
Daddy called once, then twice, then three,
I saw that number and couldn’t breathe.
The band was waiting, the room was set,
I chose the song and I live with it.

[Bridge | drums drop]
Tell me what love costs
When the bill comes due.
Tell me which dream
I was supposed to lose.

[Final Chorus | raw but controlled]
Before the break,
Before the light,
Before my name got spelled out right,
Before the door swung open wide,
Something was closing on the other side.
I was one breath late,
One road too long,
Singing my future
Over Momma’s gone.

[Outro | Wurlitzer fades]
Before the break.

[Intro | bare piano | long silence]

[Verse 1 | almost spoken]
It was 2:29 in a hallway light,
A vending machine buzzing through the quiet night.
My dress still smelled like smoke and rain,
My name still taped to the dressing-room frame.
I'd been saying "soon" for going on a year —
One more shift I couldn't miss, then I'd be there.
Phone lit up with Daddy's face,
I knew before I found a place

[Pre-Chorus | held breath]
To press my back against the wall,
I knew before I took the call.

[Chorus | quiet ache]
He didn't raise his voice,
That made it worse somehow.
Said, "Baby, if you're able,
You need to come home now."
No thunder, no warning,
No cruel movie sound.
Just his breathing, soft and slow,
Saying come home now.

[Verse 2 | piano answers]
He said Momma waited through the night,
Asked if I had found my light.
Said she heard me in the radio static,
Smiled like she almost had it.
I said, "I'm coming soon, I swear."
He said, "I know, baby. I know you."
Twelve months of soon, and none of them true —
That mercy split me clean in two.

[Bridge | voice cracks lightly, breaks open]
If he had blamed me,
I could have stood.
Every soon I promised
Was a lie made of good intentions,
And he loved me through it anyway.

[Final Chorus | restrained harmony]
He didn't raise his voice,
That made it worse somehow.
Said, "Baby, if you're able,
You need to come home now."
No thunder, no warning,
No cruel movie sound.
Just his breathing, soft and slow,
Saying come home now.

[Outro | whispered]
"I left the light on."

[Intro | piano pulse | crowd murmur]

[Verse 1 | steady vocal]
They put my name on the paper sign,
Spelled it right for the very first time.
Sound man nodded, band counts the beat,
I felt the floorboards under my feet.
Three weeks ago I would’ve called home fast,
Told Momma, “This one might be the last
Little room before something new.”
Now every good thing came split in two.

[Pre-Chorus | drums build]
The lights came up,
The people leaned close.
I opened my mouth
And sang to a ghost.

[Chorus | big soul-pop lift]
First applause after,
Hit like breaking glass.
Everybody standing,
But I couldn’t stand the past.
They heard a woman winning,
I heard a daughter late.
First applause after,
Came with Momma’s empty place.

[Verse 2 | more groove]
Manager smiled with a shaking hand,
Said, “Girl, you’re going to understand
This is the moment people wait for.”
I stared at the exit door.
Daddy was home by the telephone,
Saying, “She’d be proud,” in that gentle tone.
I wanted proud to feel like peace,
But it just fell down around my feet.

[Bridge | band drops to piano]
How can a dream come true
And still not come in time?
How can a crowd love you
And leave one chair behind?

[Final Chorus | full band | restrained runs]
First applause after,
Hit like breaking glass.
Everybody standing,
But I couldn’t stand the past.
They heard a woman winning,
I heard a daughter late.
First applause after,
Came with Momma’s empty place.

[Outro | crowd fades to room tone]
They clapped and clapped,
I heard her name.

[Intro | Rhodes | soft drum pocket]

[Verse 1 | warm low vocal]
There’s a key on a ring by my hotel bed,
Little brass moon by the glass of red.
Every city got a different door,
But that one knows me more and more.
Daddy says, “Call when the road gets mean,”
Then leaves three seconds on the answering machine.
Breathing quiet, clearing his throat,
Like love got caught behind a note.

[Chorus | soulful road lift]
I got a porch light in my pocket,
A front door in my hand.
When the world don’t want me,
I know one place can.
I keep running, keep knocking
On rooms that disappear.
But I got a porch light in my pocket,
and a light still burnin' clear.

[Verse 2 | guitar tremolo]
He don’t ask me when I’m coming back,
Just says the weather’s turning black.
Says the sink still leaks, the dog still dreams,
I laugh too hard, then I almost cry,
He lets the silence pass us by.
Some folks love you with a grand parade,
Some leave the porch light on and stay.

[Bridge | horns warm]
Home ain’t easy,
Home ain’t clean.
Sometimes home is the person
Who still saves a seat.

[Final Chorus | fuller]
I got a porch light in my pocket,
A front door in my hand.
When the world don’t want me,
I know one place can.
I keep running, keep knocking
On rooms that disappear.
But I got a porch light in my pocket,
and a light still burnin' clear.

[Outro | spoken-sung]
A light still burnin' clear.

[Intro | rain ambience | sparse piano]

[Verse 1 | whispered low mezzo]
I used to think a road could cure me,
If I drove it far enough.
Used to think a crowd could hold me,
If they held me long enough.
But grief has got a weather system,
Moves in slow and paints the sun.
I can change the town I’m sleeping in,
Not the weather I can’t outrun.

[Chorus | dreamlike lift]
There’s weather I can’t outrun,
Clouds with my momma’s tongue.
Rain on every stage light,
Thunder in my blood.
I don’t call it heaven,
I don’t call it done.
It’s just weather I can’t outrun.

[Verse 2 | bowed bass enters]
Daddy keeps the line connected,
Says the yard is growing wild.
I hear Momma in the static,
Calling me her stubborn child.
Sometimes she’s behind the cloud line,
Sometimes just a breath of air.
Sometimes she is nothing I can prove,
And still I know she’s there.

[Bridge | organ pad | almost spoken]
I stopped asking grief to leave me.
I stopped begging time to bend.
Some storms become the country
You learn to live within.

[Final Chorus | restrained harmony]
There’s weather I can’t outrun,
Clouds with my momma’s tongue.
Rain on every stage light,
Thunder in my blood.
I don’t call it heaven,
I don’t call it done.
It’s just weather I can’t outrun.

[Outro | piano and rain]
If she sings behind the cloud,
I’ll listen when it comes.

[Intro | horn stabs | hand-claps]

[Verse 1 | playful, behind the beat]
Clocked in at noon, clocked out at ten,
my feet are done but I'd do it again.
Table nine left a wink and a five,
table ten left a mess and "stay alive."
I bit my tongue, I refilled the pot,
I sang in the freezer, gave 'em all I got.

[Pre-Chorus | build]
But the apron's off and the jar is fat,
and baby I ain't goin' home for that —

[Chorus | big, joyful]
Singles and quarters and a song and a prayer,
it's Friday, it's mine, I'm spendin' it right here!
Tip jar, tip jar, turn it upside down —
worked all week just to lose it downtown!
Whoa — tip jar — light it up, let it go!

[Verse 2]
Carla's got the booth, the band's got the room,
Eddie's playin' bass like he's sweepin' a broom.
I'm buyin' a round for the back of the bar —
tonight I'm a queen and the jar's my car.

[Pre-Chorus]
'Cause Monday's a monster, but Monday can wait,
I earned every dime off a dinner plate —

[Chorus]
Singles and quarters and a song and a prayer,
it's Friday, it's mine, I'm spendin' it right here!
Tip jar, tip jar, turn it upside down —
worked all week just to lose it downtown!

[Bridge | drop to claps + bass]
They can keep their pension, keep their gold,
I'll take a good night before I'm old.
Broke in the mornin', rich tonight —
that's the only math that comes out right!

[Final Chorus | fuller horns]
Singles and quarters and a song and a prayer,
it's Friday, it's mine, I'm spendin' it right here!
Tip jar, tip jar, light it up, let it go —
work all week just to let it all go!

[Outro | horns]
Let it go, baby — let it go!

[Intro | slow horn swell into strut]

[Verse 1 | low and sly]
I didn't come to whisper, didn't come to hide,
I came in late on purpose just to watch 'em slide.
Lipstick like a warning, dress the color of nerve,
I take up all the doorway, honey, every inch I deserve.

[Pre-Chorus]
You can call it confidence, you can call it crime —
I just call it walkin' in on time.

[Chorus | brassy]
Here comes trouble in heels —
a dangerous walk and a beautiful mess!
Trouble in heels —
I'll ruin your evening and you'll thank me, no less!
Click-clack down the floor, lock the kitchen door —
here comes trouble, baby, here comes trouble in heels!

[Verse 2]
The good girls hate me, but the good girls watch,
the bartender's pourin' me an extra-strong scotch.
I don't chase the spotlight, the spotlight chases me,
I'm a slow song in a body that won't let it be.

[Pre-Chorus]
So move your jacket, sugar, give a girl some room —
the whole night just walked in, and it's wearin' perfume.

[Chorus]
Here comes trouble in heels —
a dangerous walk and a beautiful mess!
Trouble in heels —
I'll ruin your evening and you'll thank me, no less!

[Bridge | horns drop, struttin' bass]
Mm — I'm not mean, I'm just expensive to ignore,
the kind of pretty that you've been warned about before.

[Final Chorus]
Here comes trouble in heels —
click-clack, baby, lock the kitchen door —
here comes trouble, here comes trouble in heels!

[Outro | one horn hit]
Trouble. In heels.

[Intro | organ + a single hand-clap building]

[Verse 1 | warm, rising]
Ironed out my troubles, hung 'em on the line,
shined up these old shoes till the leather looked fine.
Mama wore this dress to weep and to pray —
I'm-a wear it to dance my blues away.

[Pre-Chorus | claps build]
The preacher's got Sunday, but the Lord don't mind —
I'll praise on a Friday, I'll get there in time —

[Chorus | full choir lift]
Put my Sunday best on a Friday night,
gonna save my own soul by the neon light!
Sunday best, Friday sin,
let the music in, let the music in!
Hallelujah, baby, raise your glass and stand —
even the broken get to clap their hands!

[Verse 2]
Trouble paid my rent in a currency of tears,
so I'm cashin' in a little joy to cover all the years.
The choir's just my girlfriends and a man on the keys,
but glory's where you find it, down here on your knees!

[Pre-Chorus]
The collection plate is empty, but the spirit's runnin' high —
you don't need a steeple to reach up to the sky —

[Chorus]
Put my Sunday best on a Friday night,
gonna save my own soul by the neon light!
Sunday best, Friday sin,
let the music in, let the music in!

[Bridge | drop to organ + claps, call and response]
(Stomp!) for the rent you paid,
(Stomp!) for the bed you made,
(Stomp!) for the ones who stayed —
get up, get up, get saved!

[Final Chorus | biggest]
Put my Sunday best on a Friday night,
gonna save my own soul by the neon light!
Hallelujah, baby — raise your glass and stand —
even the broken get to clap their hands!

[Outro | choir + organ]
Clap your hands, clap your hands!

[Intro | jukebox click | guitar jangle]

[Verse 1 | bouncy]
Had a no-good, rotten, lonesome kind of day,
boss was a bear and the world's in the way.
Walked into Mickey's with a quarter and a frown,
and somethin' on the wall said, "Honey, put it down."

[Pre-Chorus]
B-fourteen, the one my daddy used to play —
press it down and watch the whole room sway —

[Chorus | lift]
One quarter in the jukebox, baby,
that's all it takes to save me!
A nickel's worth of trouble and a quarter's worth of grace,
turn a bad, bad night into the best place!
One quarter — drop it in — and let it spin!

[Verse 2]
A stranger started hummin', then the bartender too,
the waitress caught the beat and swayed on through.
Three minutes of heaven on a jukebox shelf —
cheaper than a doctor, and it fixes you yourself!

[Pre-Chorus]
So I'm savin' all my dollars but I'm keepin' one thin coin,
for the kind of holy roller that the records can join —

[Chorus]
One quarter in the jukebox, baby,
that's all it takes to save me!
A nickel's worth of trouble and a quarter's worth of grace,
turn a bad, bad night into the best place!

[Bridge | drop to Wurlitzer]
The whole world's singin' out a tiny phone,
but nothin' feels like that old jukebox tone —
that warm little crackle 'fore the record begins —

[Final Chorus]
One quarter in the jukebox, baby,
that's all it takes to save me!
Drop it in, drop it in, and let it spin!

[Outro | jukebox fade]
Play it again — drop it in.

[Intro | shuffle groove | horn answer]

[Verse 1 | sweet on top, sharp underneath]
Miss Lady on the corner with the curtains pulled tight,
counts everybody's business by the porch-light light.
She heard I was wicked, she heard I was loose,
honey, half of it's a lie — the other half's the truth!

[Pre-Chorus]
But you better get your story straight before you spread it 'round,
'cause everything you whisper, sugar, I can put to sound —

[Chorus | grooving]
So mind your mouth, Miss Lady,
'fore I put your business in a song, baby!
I write 'em catchy, I write 'em mean,
the whole town's hummin' by the time it's seen —
mind your mouth, or I'll write you in between!

[Verse 2]
You smile at me on Sunday, you talk at me all week,
but glass houses, darlin', make a terrible critique.
I know about the Tuesdays and the car in the lane,
so let's both keep it quiet — or we both go down in flame!

[Pre-Chorus]
'Cause I got a real good memory and a real good band,
and a chorus is a weapon in a clever woman's hand —

[Chorus]
So mind your mouth, Miss Lady,
'fore I put your business in a song, baby!
I write 'em catchy, I write 'em mean,
the whole town's hummin' by the time it's seen!

[Bridge | drop to organ]
I could name some names — but I'm a lady, see —
I'll just leave a little blank and let 'em fill in the "she" —

[Final Chorus | horns]
So mind your mouth, Miss Lady,
keep my name out your mouth, or you'll be famous, baby!
Mind your mouth — or I'll write you in between!

[Outro | sly]
Mind your mouth.

[Intro | piano roll | band kick]

[Verse 1 | rowdy, warm]
Friday hit and the checks came through,
called up my cousin like I always do.
"Grab the keys to your daddy's car —
we ain't goin' far, but we're goin' hard."
It still smells like her mama's pine,
cracked old leather, but it rides just fine.

[Pre-Chorus]
We worked all week for a night like this,
a pocket full of money and a heart full of "yes" —

[Chorus | full band]
Rollin' in the borrowed Cadillac,
me and my cousin and we ain't lookin' back!
Somebody else is cookin' the food tonight —
we're gonna eat it slow and we're gonna do it right —
borrowed Cadillac, baby, borrowed Cadillac!

[Verse 2]
Corner booth and a tablecloth,
order what we want and we don't count the cost.
A plate we didn't cook and a drink that's cold,
laughin' like we're seventeen and never gettin' old.
She snorts her soda, I 'bout lose my breath —
this is the kind of broke that feels like wealth!

[Pre-Chorus]
We ain't rich, but we're rich tonight,
two girls and a tank full of Friday light —

[Chorus]
Rollin' in the borrowed Cadillac,
me and my cousin and we ain't lookin' back!
Somebody else is cookin' the food tonight —
we're gonna eat it slow and we're gonna do it right!

[Bridge | drop to handclaps + piano]
Don't need a crown, don't need a yacht,
just a full tank, a good song, and the booth we got.
Dance in the parking lot, holler at the moon —
Monday's comin' but it ain't here soon —

[Final Chorus | biggest]
Rollin' in the borrowed Cadillac,
me and my cousin and we ain't lookin' back!
Eat good, drink slow, dance till the lights go low,
gotta have it home by Sunday but tonight it's ours to know —
borrowed Cadillac, baby, borrowed Cadillac!

[Outro | engine + horn]
Windows down, cousin — let's ride.

[Intro | organ swell | brushed drums]

[Verse 1]
The whole town had it figured before I did,
soft eyes and low whispers, the things they hid.
You kept comin' home, you kept actin' fine,
while everybody knew it down the grocery line.

[Pre-Chorus]
I was the last to feel the cold,
the last to hear what I was never told —

[Chorus]
I was the last to know.
Everybody saw it, watched it go.
Kept settin' two cups out of habit and hope —
the last, the last to know.

[Verse 2]
You didn't even leave a reason on the bed,
just the shape of where you laid your head.
I called it love 'cause I'd called it that for years,
turns out I was the only volunteer.

[Pre-Chorus]
And the worst of it ain't that you're gone,
it's how long I kept on holdin' on —

[Chorus]
I was the last to know.
Everybody saw it, watched it go.
Kept settin' two cups out of habit and hope —
the last, the last to know.

[Bridge | drop to organ + voice]
I'm not cryin' for you, I'm cryin' for the girl
who believed your every word like it ran the world.
She deserved a truth, even one that stings —
not a closing door and a lifetime of guessing.

[Final Chorus | lift]
But I'm the first to let it go,
first to lock the door and not hope you'll show.
You can keep the story, baby, keep it for the road —
I was just the last to know.

[Outro]
Mm — the last to know.

[Intro | horn stabs | groove]

[Verse 1 | warm, confident]
I don't answer to the clock on anybody's wall,
I show up when I show up, or I don't show at all.
Took me a long time to learn to like my name,
now I say it like a winner in a one-girl game.

[Pre-Chorus]
You can wait on me, sugar, but don't hold your breath,
I move at the speed of my own two steps —

[Chorus]
I'm on my own sweet time,
spendin' it slow, spendin' it fine.
Nobody's clock and nobody's line,
livin' it all on my own sweet time.

[Verse 2]
Used to chase every yes like it kept me alive,
now I let the good ones come to me and arrive.
I tip myself a slow smile in the mirror at noon,
got nowhere to be but exactly in this room.

[Pre-Chorus]
So keep your hurry, honey, keep your race,
I like the scenery here at my own pace —

[Chorus]
I'm on my own sweet time,
spendin' it slow, spendin' it fine.
Nobody's clock and nobody's line,
livin' it all on my own sweet time.

[Bridge | drop to organ + claps]
Let 'em rush the whole world by,
I'll be right here watchin' the light go gold in the sky.
Every minute I'm not beggin' is a minute that's mine —
and I plan to spend 'em all on my own sweet time.

[Final Chorus | full band]
I'm on my own sweet time,
feelin' so good it's almost a crime.
Nobody's clock and nobody's line,
livin' it all on my own sweet time.

[Outro | horns]
My own sweet time.

[Intro | brushed drums | Wurlitzer]

[Verse 1 | low, intimate]
Don't reach for your jacket, the night's still young,
let the record keep turnin', let it come undone.
You move like you're already halfway gone,
but the good things were never meant to rush along.

[Pre-Chorus]
So put your hand right here, let the clock lose track,
there's a whole lotta nowhere we don't gotta get back —

[Chorus]
Slow.
Let it burn down low.
I don't want the fire, I want the afterglow.
Slow.
We got all night to go.
The best part of wantin' is takin' it slow.

[Verse 2]
I've had the kind of fast that leaves you cold,
hands on the wheel of a story already told.
But you — you're a long song I want to learn,
every quiet little bridge, every turn.

[Pre-Chorus]
So pour another glass, let the candle die,
we got nothin' to prove and nowhere to be tonight —

[Chorus]
Slow.
Let it burn down low.
I don't want the fire, I want the afterglow.
Slow.
We got all night to go.
The best part of wantin' is takin' it slow.

[Bridge | drop to bass + voice]
Everybody's racin' to the end of the song,
I'd rather miss the mornin' than rush you along.
Stay in the middle with me, right here, real slow —
that's the only place worth gettin' to, you know.

[Final Chorus]
Slow.
Let it burn down low.
Keep your secrets, baby, just don't let go.
Slow.
We got all night to go.
The best part of lovin' is takin' it slow.

[Outro | Wurlitzer fade]
Mm... nice and slow.