Twelve-Month Contract

Paroles de « Twelve-Month Contract »

Verse

MARLOW: Page eleven, subsection C:
"Each party keeps their own ceiling weather."
Honey, that's poetry from a legal machine —
they wrote us a clause for staying warm together.

Verse: Ines

INES: Two hundred sixty-one days left.
I counted while the kettle was clicking.
Clause nineteen says we wait for the tone,
and clause nineteen has a sound like ticking.

Chorus: Both

Twelve-month contract, sign it in pen,
love with a limit and a light at the end.
Twelve-month contract, sweet and precise —
nobody argues, nobody pays twice.

Chorus, Chorus

Nobody argues, nobody pays twice.

Verse: Marlow

MARLOW: Look at this — we itemized the jam.
Apricot, Tuesdays, mutual approval.
Somebody typed that out and thought of us.
One orange a week, under Personal Removal.

Verse: Ines

INES: Two hundred sixty-one. And a half,
if you count the hour we're sitting through.
I read the whole thing twice by the nightlight
and it never once asked me how I slept, or what I do.

Chorus: Both

Twelve-month contract, sign it in pen,
love with a limit and a light at the end.
Twelve-month contract, sweet and precise —
nobody argues, nobody pays twice.

Chorus, Chorus

Somebody argues. Somebody pays twice.

Bridge: Sable

SABLE: Good morning. I've flagged one item for review.
Clause thirty-one, paragraph sixty-three:
"In the event of a stalled elevator,
neither party is obligated to speak."
I can strike it, if you'd like. I can leave it in.
I've left it in. Your toast is ready.

Verse: Marlow

MARLOW: Take it out, Sable.

Verse: Ines

INES: Leave it.

Verse: Marlow

MARLOW: Ines.

Verse: Ines

INES: Two hundred sixty days. It's nine o'clock.

Outro: Both

Twelve-month contract, sweet and precise.
Twelve-month contract. Sign it twice.

Chorus, Chorus

Sign it twice. Sign it twice.