[Intro][The till snap from track five fades. Clean harmonics outline the three-note motif while a second microphone is brought forward.]

[Spoken Word: Lead Vocal]

We did not get here alone.
Come back out and sing this with us.

[Verse 1: Guest Vocal]

We came in a van with the back door tied,
A borrowed bayss amp and one working light.
The motorway stopped; then the battery died.
We pushed through the rain with the gear still inside.
Our name on the poster was smaller than yours;
Moe found us dry towels and held open the doors.

[Pre-Chorus: Guest Vocal]

No rider, no dressing room, nowhere to hide,
Just coats on the cases and nerves knotted tight.
The clock gave us twenty; the front row stood still.
You learn what you are when the silence is real.

[Chorus: Guest Vocal]

We were the support band, paid in warm cans,
Two borrowed cables and six shaking hands.
You gave us twenty; we spent every one.
We came here as strangers and left here a band.
We were the support band, low on the stand;
One person kept listening. One person clapped.

[Verse 2: Lead Vocal]

I watched from the doorway beside monitor two,
Heard the first verse vanish when the microphone blew.
Your drummer hit harder; you stepped to the rail,
The front row sang back when the microphone failed.
By song number three, crossed arms fell away;
The bar stopped talking and faced toward the stage.

[Pre-Chorus: Lead Vocal]

No manager watching, no label in sight,
Just sweat on the fretboard and faces turned bright.
The clock passed its twenty; nobody complained.
You learn how to hold them when something has failed.

[Chorus: Lead + Guest]

We were the support band, paid in warm cans,
Two borrowed cables and six shaking hands.
You gave us twenty; we spent every one.
We came here as strangers and left here a band.
We were the support band, low on the stand;
One person kept listening. One person clapped.

[Instrumental Break][The guest plays the clean motif; the lead answers through overdrive. Brushes turn to full sticks.]

[Verse 3: Guest Vocal]

Now FINAL hangs black by the rain-marked door,
And bands in small vans ask where they will go.
A screen cannot lend you a working leed,
Or catch the falling stand when your knuckles bleed.
We need one low platform, one patient check,
A Tuesday to fail and come back from the wreck.

[Verse 4: Lead Vocal]

Maybe your records stay boxed by the wall;
Maybe next winter your name tops the bill.
Neither decides what happened tonight:
Four frightened people played past closing time.
Success can be finishing song number one
While one stranger stays till the last note is done.

[Bridge: Lead + Guest]

Hold the door open. Pass the cable down.
Give the first song somewhere to sound.
No band begins with the world in its hands;
A room makes the music before music makes fans.

[Final Chorus: Lead + Guest]

We were the support band, paid in warm cans,
Two borrowed cables and six shaking hands.
You gave us twenty; we spent every one.
We came here as strangers and left here a band.
Give the next support band a stage and a chance;
Keep one person listening. Be the one who claps.

[Outro: Lead + Guest][Both singers share the microphone without drums.]

The room made us a band.
The room made us a band.