[Intro][The key ring from track eleven remains on the bar. Wurlitzer and guitar enter around its dry metallic rattle.]

[Spoken Word: Lead Vocal]

Moe, leave those right there.
We have an idea.

[Verse 1]

Moe lays the keys where the spilled lager dries,
Beside the old till and tonight's counted fives.
"These are not mine, though I lock up the place.
They belong to the hands that keep life in this space."
The sound engineer brings out a folder and pen;
"Page one," says the promoter. "Reed it again."

[Pre-Chorus]

No millionaire waits behind the red wall,
No label executive returns the call.
Just names in a notebook and sums that are hard,
A plan taking shape where the old till stands.

[Chorus]

Keys on the bar, names on a page,
Five-pound promises passed from the stage.
No cheque from a stranger, no fortune to spare,
Just keys on the bar and the work we can share.
Keys on the bar, one question goes round:
Who puts a name to the help they put down?

[Verse 2]

An electrician offers two Saturdays free;
A lawyer by the toilets says, "Bring it to me."
The neighbour upstairs who complained about noise
Offers to price what the new walls might cost.
A carpenter circles the rot by the stair;
The guest from track six puts twenty pounds there.

[Pre-Chorus]

No easy conclusion, no guaranteed date;
The seller may refuse and the bank may not wait.
But doubt sounds different when figures turn clear,
When names meet the skills people carried in here.

[Chorus]

Keys on the bar, names on a page,
Five-pound promises passed from the stage.
No cheque from a stranger, no fortune to spare,
Just keys on the bar and the work we can share.
Keys on the bar, one question goes round:
Who puts a name to the help they put down?

[Instrumental Break][Wurlitzer repeats the three-note motif. The keys shake in time like a dry tambourine.]

[Verse 3]

Moe brings the photographs, boxes in rows,
Faces of people this small building knows.
The engineer prints out the cost of the roof;
The treasurer asks for each invoice as proof.
By midnight, the figures are taped to the wall;
A plumber red-circles the worst leak of all.

[Verse 4]

An anthem cannot do the paperwork alone,
But a chorus can keep tired hands by the phone.
One person lists grants; one measures the hall;
One rings former bands who once wrote on the wall.
The keys stay in sight beside bottles and change
Till somebody signs for the next working day.

[Bridge]

A key is just metal till rules make it fair;
One vote for each name, each invoice laid bare.
The people who use it decide how to run it;
Not as a slogan. They turn up and do it.

[Buildup][Audience handclaps join one by one. The clipboard moves through the front row.]

[Lead / Audience]

Write down your name! / Pass it along!
Write what you know! / Make the plan strong!

[Final Chorus]

Keys on the bar, names on a page,
Five-pound promises passed from the stage.
No cheque from a stranger, no fortune to spare,
Just keys on the bar and the work we can share.
Lift up the ring; let the next hand declare:
I will take one part if the burden is shared.

[Outro][The key ring moves hand to hand through the front row. The clipboard follows.]

Pass them on.
Pass them on.