Track 4 of the EP Frangipani Afternoons · 2022
The Piano Tuner's Afternoon
by Marigold Tan
“The piano tuner came every Thursday and made our old upright sound new for an hour. I tried to capture that small, quiet joy of something being put right.”
singer-songwriter · parlour folk · tender ballad · 3:22
Lyrics
The tuner comes on Thursday With his leather bag of tools He lifts the lid of the old upright That's sat there, mute, for months He presses one key, listens Then he turns a tiny pin And a sound I thought was missing Comes quietly back in Oh, one note at a time The whole room comes alive The dust, the photographs, the hush Begin to hum and thrive Nothing's ever past repair If someone's patient and kind One note at a time We find our way to fine My mother played on Sundays Hymns and half a waltz The pedals creak the way they did There's honest wear in all He plays a little scale for me Then lets me take the seat My hands remember something My heart skips half a beat Oh, one note at a time The whole room comes alive The dust, the photographs, the hush Begin to hum and thrive Nothing's ever past repair If someone's patient and kind One note at a time We find our way to fine He tips his cap and tells me Play it every day A piano's like a friendship It drifts if you stay away So I'll leave the lid wide open Let the afternoon come through And play the songs she taught me Till they sound the way they're due Oh, one note at a time The whole room comes alive The dust, the photographs, the hush Begin to hum and thrive Nothing's ever past repair If someone's patient and kind One note at a time We find our way to fine One note, one note And the room comes home