[Intro][Three hard knocks land above the stage. The band answers each one with the same jagged chord.]

[Audience]

Turn it up!

[Verse 1]

Glass balconies rose above the lane,
Sold with a view of murals and trains.
Nine forty-five brought a knock through the beam,
Nine fifty-two, blue lights on the street.
At nine fifty-nine, halfway through the refrain,
A clipboard waited by the fire-exit chain.

[Pre-Chorus]

Measure the bayss, measure the wall,
Measure the laugh by the downstairs hall.
Write down the kick, write down the din;
Old bricks stay silent while the forms roll in.

[Chorus]

Quiet after ten, quiet after ten,
Sign the page, turn it down, then turn it down again.
This room was here before the steel moved in,
But age counts for nothing when complaints begin.
Quiet after ten, one stamp across the page;
The cable dies while the band holds the stage.

[Verse 2]

Foam filled the ceiling; felt sealed the door,
Black blankets hung from the roof to the floor.
They shifted each speaker and thinned out the bayss,
While rent climbed higher for the same cramped space.
The opener came late from the motorway;
At ten fifteen, silence took half their pay.

[Pre-Chorus]

Measure the snare, measure the cheer,
Measure the shows that remain this year.
Write down the boot, write down the grin;
Old bricks stay silent while the forms roll in.

[Chorus]

Quiet after ten, quiet after ten,
Sign the page, turn it down, then turn it down again.
This room was here before the steel moved in,
But age counts for nothing when complaints begin.
Quiet after ten, one stamp across the page;
The cable dies while the band holds the stage.

[Break][Bass and kick continue under three ceiling knocks. The singer lowers the microphone toward the crowd.]

[Audience: Whispered]

Quiet after ten.

[Verse 3]

Upstairs, a neighbour turns over in bed;
Downstairs, two songs lose a verse instead.
The tenant checks time; the promoter checks fines.
Two contracts collide in the same narrow lane.
The brochure keeps guitars in bright mural paint,
Then real drums arrive and become a complaint.

[Bridge]

The brochure prints guitars in blue and gold;
The notice says the real ones stop at ten.
The last train runs late past the glass overhead;
At ten, every amplifier must play dead.

[Buildup][One instrument enters per line; the audience counts with the drummer.]

[Lead / Audience]

Count every decibel! / Count every pound!
Count every small room losing its sound!

[Final Chorus]

Quiet after ten, quiet after ten,
Sign the page, turn it down, then turn it down again.
This room was here before the steel moved in,
But age counts for nothing when complaints begin.
Quiet after ten; hear the warning ring.
Three knocks above us. We finish what we sing.

[Outro][The band cuts on the final word. Three knocks remain, followed by a beat of real room silence.]