Track 4 of the album Give the Morning Another Try · 2022
Twelve Years and One Doorbell
“Twelve years late to a doorbell, with a rehearsed speech that falls apart. We kept the awkward pauses in the arrangement.”
cinematic pop · cinematic pop · romantic pop · 3:47
Lyrics
I practised what to say all the way up the street Hello, you look the same, no, that sounds like a lie My hands are full of flowers and my heart is full of noise Twelve years is a long time to stand at one front door There's a bicycle in the hallway that I swear I used to know There's a new paint on the railing, but the same crack in the stair I can hear a kettle starting, I can hear somebody laugh And I press the little button before I lose my nerve One ring, two rings Footsteps getting near Twelve years and one doorbell Ringing out across the years Open up, open up, it's me Older, a little braver, and here Twelve years and one doorbell And the whole world holds its breath Then the door swings wide, and you say my name Like no time has passed at all You are laughing in the doorway with your hand upon your heart You say I never wrote and I say you never called And we both say we are sorry, and we both say it's fine And you pull me in the hallway like I never went away We will talk until the morning, we will burn the toast We will lay out all the photographs and name the ones we lost Every story that we saved up, every joke that went stale Will taste like something new tonight Twelve years and one doorbell Ringing out across the years Open up, open up, it's me Older, a little braver, and here Twelve years and one doorbell And the whole world holds its breath Then the door swings wide, and you say my name Like no time has passed at all Like no time has passed at all