[Intro][The three knocks from track four become three blunt bass notes. A low guitar scrapes down the strings.]

[Spoken Word: Lead Vocal]

You want it louder? Buy a drink from the bar.

[Verse 1]

The boiler eats coins and still blows cold;
Rain finds the wiring; the licence fee grows.
Four pounds on a ticket pays the engineer,
Then the card fee takes what was left of the beer.
After card fees, the band takes its share;
The room takes the risk; the rent is already there.

[Pre-Chorus]

Add every bottle, subtract every light,
Divide by the hours of a Friday night.
The till looks healthy till the invoices land;
Then red crosses black in the bookkeeper's hand.

[Chorus]

Red ink on the rent, black mould on the wall,
Four more pounds a pint will not cover it all.
A glass lobby waits where the loading bay went;
We play over the figures: red ink on the rent.
Red ink on the rent, each due date descends;
Goodwill keeps the doors, but it never pays the rent.

[Verse 2]

The drawing shows white stone polished and clean,
A gym in the basement, twelve flats on the screen.
No hatch for a drum case, no place for the stage,
Just brass-numbered doors and a code at the gate.
They offer six months at the old monthly rate,
Then add one more zero when the lease is remade.

[Pre-Chorus]

Add every repair, subtract every show,
Divide by the bands with nowhere else to go.
The columns sit quiet till the final amount;
Forty years vanish in one owner's account.

[Chorus]

Red ink on the rent, black mould on the wall,
Four more pounds a pint will not cover it all.
A glass lobby waits where the loading bay went;
We play over the figures: red ink on the rent.
Red ink on the rent, each due date descends;
Goodwill keeps the doors, but it never pays the rent.

[Instrumental Break][Baritone guitar and bass grind through the three-note motif. The till drawer snaps on beats two and four.]

[Verse 3]

The painter buys brushes and leaves no receipt;
Moe stores spare cables beneath the bar shelf.
The promoter skips wages to settle the sound;
The cleaner stays late when no cash can be found.
Favours fill holes till the holes open wide;
You cannot pay rates with community pride.

[Breakdown][Kick, pick bass and one muted guitar remain.]

[Lead Vocal]

One bill for the window, one bill for the wire.
One bill for the water, one bill for the fire door.

[Audience]

What did we make?

[Lead Vocal]

A full room. No profit.

[Bridge]

The SOLD OUT card hangs at the foot of the stair,
But a packed Friday night cannot repair
A building worth more when the music is gone,
Or a lease where the zeros keep marching on.

[Final Chorus]

Red ink on the rent, black mould on the wall,
A sold-out night still cannot cover all.
A glass lobby waits where the loading bay went;
Reed every last figure: red ink on the rent.
Red ink on the rent; pass the ledger around.
Let every hand see what drags us down.

[Outro][The bass continues alone until the till shuts with a metallic snap.]

Count it twice.
It still does not add up.