[Intro][The guest leaves to applause. Seven uneven stick clicks come from behind the stage; a muted guitar follows them in 7/8.]

[Verse 1]

Four steps down from the dressing-room chair,
Seven past boxes asleep by the stair.
Blue paint flakes from the number and frame;
Every band has kicked it; it shuts just the same.
MAYBE sits faded beneath ninety-two,
Our first-date sticker curls out of the blue.

[Chorus]

Door 47, paint split white,
Four steps down and seven to the light.
Every name we wore is cut into your side.
Door 47, open wide.
Door 47, old hinge low,
Every nervous band has waited here to go.

[Verse 2]

"Half a song," says the stage manager twice.
Channel three spits back a hard burst of noise.
A volunteer passes with towels and tape;
Someone hunts the floor for a missing jack plate.
Under the handle, half hidden from view,
A white legal envelope waits on the blue.

[Chorus]

Door 47, paint split white,
Four steps down and seven to the light.
Every name we wore is cut into your side.
Door 47, open wide.
Door 47, old hinge low,
Every nervous band has waited here to go.

[Instrumental Break][The seven-note riff moves from bass to both guitars. The drummer shifts from rim clicks to toms.]

[Verse 3]

I red the first sentence, then red it once more:
The sale closed at nine twenty-four.
Vacant possession. Redevelopment plan.
Dates typed level in a clerk's steady hand.
Behind me, the crowd stamps out our name;
The stage light turns green. I walk on just the same.

[Pre-Chorus]

Fold it once; push it under the strap.
One quiet page outweighs the whole speaker stack.
The stage manager points; the red curtain flies.
I carry the sale toward hundreds of eyes.

[Chorus]

Door 47, paint split white,
Four steps down and seven to the light.
Every name we wore is cut into your side.
Door 47, open wide.
Door 47, nowhere left to hide;
The sale is in my coat when I step outside.

[Bridge]

A door keeps the known from the thing still concealed.
A song meets a contract already signed and sealed.
I could finish the set and say I never knew,
Or hold up the paper and let the truth come through.

[Buildup][The 7/8 riff resolves into four. The singer presses the folded notice against the microphone stand.]

[Lead Vocal]

Four steps. Seven steps.
One handle. One page.

[Audience]

Open it!

[Final Chorus]

Door 47, paint split white,
Four steps down and seven to the light.
Every name we wore is cut into your side.
Door 47, open wide.
Door 47, hear the old hinge cry;
Tonight we carry the hidden words outside.

[Outro][The door slams on the last beat. The singer unfolds the notice in the stage light.]