Track 1 of the single Platform Lights · 2026

The Lobby Piano Closes at Midnight

“I wrote this thinking of the last hour in the jazz bars where I first dared to sing, when the brass is polished and only the piano is left. I kept it hushed on purpose, like closing a door gently so you don't wake the room.”

jazz ballad · torch ballad · chamber jazz · late night · 4:42

Lyrics

The bar has emptied out by now
The brass is polished clean
A porter yawns beside the lift
In the lamplight's amber sheen
I lift the lid and find my place
On keys worn soft as skin
One more song for no one
Then I let the night come in

The lobby piano closes at midnight
But I'll play it one more time
For the traveller with the suitcase
And the stranger with the rhyme
Lock the lid and dim the light
The last note rings out slow
The lobby piano closes at midnight
But the music's free to go

A woman in a rain-wet coat
Is waiting by the stair
She doesn't have a room tonight
She just wants someone there
I play a tune I never learned
It comes from who knows where
And she closes both her eyes
And breathes out, easy as prayer

The lobby piano closes at midnight
But I'll play it one more time
For the traveller with the suitcase
And the stranger with the rhyme
Lock the lid and dim the light
The last note rings out slow
The lobby piano closes at midnight
But the music's free to go

Rooms above us, rooms below
Every door a story shut
Some are leaving, some are home
Some don't know which way to cut
But a melody drifts up the stairs
And finds them where they lie
A little lullaby for strangers
Underneath a sleeping sky

The porter hands me my worn coat
The clock hits twelve and chimes
I fold the cloth across the keys
Like a hush between the lines
The woman smiles and nods goodnight
And heads out in the rain
And I walk home humming softly
That unfinished, borrowed strain

The lobby piano closes at midnight
But I played it one more time
For the traveller with the suitcase
And the stranger with the rhyme
Lock the lid and dim the light
The last note rang out slow
The lobby piano closes at midnight
But the music's free to go

The music's free to go
Goodnight, goodnight, hello