I Kept Your Message on the Machine

Lyrics

There's a little green light on the hall-stand phone
Blinking slow in the evening gloom
I never pressed delete, I never could
So it plays to the empty room
Your voice says, "Hello, it's me, I'm late
Put the soup on, I'm nearly home"
Thirty seconds of ordinary words
Now the dearest thing I own

I kept your message on the machine
Just a minute of you, nothing more
Buy some bread, mind the step, love you, bye
Said the way you always said it before
And I play it when the light goes blue
When the house forgets how to hum
I kept your message on the machine
So I'd always hear you say you're coming home

The kettle clicks and the clock ticks on
And the tape wheels slowly turn
There's a laugh at the end where you lost your place
Oh, that laugh is the part I learn
By heart, by heart, by the winter window
By the chair where you used to sit
Every day I say, "I'm here, I'm fine"
And your answer is always it

I kept your message on the machine
Just a minute of you, nothing more
Buy some bread, mind the step, love you, bye
Said the way you always said it before
And I play it when the light goes blue
When the house forgets how to hum
I kept your message on the machine
So I'd always hear you say you're coming home

Some folk keep letters, some keep rings
Some keep a coat on a hook
I kept the weight of a Tuesday call
And the way that your sentence shook
With laughing at nothing, with love at the door
With the rain on the step behind you
Oh, I'll keep it till the tape wears thin
And then I'll keep the tune of it

I kept your message on the machine
Just a minute of you, nothing more
Buy some bread, mind the step, love you, bye
Said the way you always said it before
And I play it when the light goes blue
When the house forgets how to hum
I kept your message on the machine
So I'd always hear you say you're coming home

Say it again, say it slow
You're nearly home, I know, I know