Track 5 of the album One More Verse Before the Lights Come Up · 2026
The Lift Stops at Your Floor
by Wren Hallett
“Half past eleven in a hotel in the rain, and the brass doors slide open with a sigh. It's a very small love song in a very large building.”
acoustic · hotel folk · romantic folk · 3:43
Lyrics
Half past eleven, a hotel in the rain Brass doors sliding with a sigh I had a suitcase and a paper cup You had a book and a tired eye You pressed the seven, I pressed the six Then the numbers lit up the same Funny how a small mistake Can make you ask a name And the lift stops at your floor And I don't know what I'm waiting for Soft carpet, a hum in the wall A lamp left on down the hall You hold the door, you smile a little I forget which way I came The lift stops at your floor And I'm not in any hurry to leave the same We talked about the weather and a town you used to know And a cat that sleeps on the stairs A corridor of numbered doors And two coats on the chairs You said, "I fly out early, I never sleep well here" I said, "Neither do I, I think" And the clock above the lifts went round In the quiet, in the hush, in the pink And the lift stops at your floor And I don't know what I'm waiting for Soft carpet, a hum in the wall A lamp left on down the hall You hold the door, you smile a little I forget which way I came The lift stops at your floor And I'm not in any hurry to leave the same Maybe this is all it is Two kind strangers, one small light A little pause between two lives A gentle sort of night No promise, no grand gesture Just a card in a coat And a warm hello at midnight That I'll hum when I'm remote And the lift stops at your floor And I don't know what I'm waiting for Soft carpet, a hum in the wall A lamp left on down the hall You hold the door, you smile a little I forget which way I came The lift stops at your floor And I'm not in any hurry to leave the same Goodnight, goodnight, mind the door The lift stops at your floor