DON’T GIVE ME A KEY

[Intro: sharp piano stabs, finger snaps]

[Spoken]
You should probably know this
before you clear a drawer.

[Drum hit]

[Verse 1: fast, playful]

I like the spark
I like the chase
I like the look before we name the place

I like your clothes
On my bedroom floor
I just get nervous when you say
“Forevermore”

[Backing Vocals]
Uh-oh!

[Lead]
You say, “Stay”
I hear, “Build a fence”

You say, “Us”
I start losing common sense

It’s not that I don’t feel it
God, I feel it way too much

I just panic when affection
Starts discussing joint accounts

[Pre-Chorus: drums building]

Don’t mistake my running
For an empty heart

Sometimes I leave
Because I care enough
To fear the part—

[Chorus: huge guitars]

DON’T GIVE ME A KEY
I MIGHT LOVE YOU AND LEAVE

I’M GREAT AT THE FIRE
I’M BAD AT THE EVE

I can promise you tonight
I can mean every word

But ask me where we’ll be in five years

[Music cuts]

And suddenly I haven’t heard

[Backing Vocals]
Run! Run! Run!

[Lead]
I want the love
I fear the cage

I’m still learning
How to stay

[Verse 2: bouncing piano and bass]

I know the drill
I’ve seen the scene

Two toothbrushes
And a matching washing machine

Sunday brunch
A little dog
A shared account
And matching monologues

[Brass flourish]

And maybe that’s beautiful
Maybe I’m strange

But every time things settle
I start craving a change

I love being chosen
That’s the terrible twist

The second I feel owned
I start checking the exits

[Pre-Chorus]

I don’t want less feeling
I want room to breathe

Can you hold me
Without asking me
To promise I won’t leave?

[Chorus]

DON’T GIVE ME A KEY
I MIGHT LOVE YOU AND LEAVE

I’M GREAT AT THE FIRE
I’M BAD AT THE EVE

I can promise you honesty
I can promise I care

But if love means disappearing
Into somebody else’s chair—

[Backing Vocals]
No! No! No!

[Lead]
I need a door
I need a name

That still belongs to me

[Bridge: piano only]

[Soft Vocal]
Maybe commitment
Isn’t chains

Maybe staying
Isn’t losing

Maybe choosing you tomorrow
Means tomorrow
I keep choosing

[Strings rise]

Not because I have to

Not because I swore

But because every morning
I still want to
Open your door

[Drums explode back in]

[Final Chorus]

SO MAYBE GIVE ME A KEY
BUT DON’T THROW OUT MY SHOES

LET ME STAY BECAUSE I WANT TO
NOT BECAUSE I CAN’T REFUSE

I may always need a window
I may always fear the wall

But maybe love is not a prison

[Choir]
IF THERE’S ROOM TO MOVE AT ALL!

[Outro: piano and handclaps]

[Lead]
I’m hard to settle

[Backing Vocals]
We noticed!

[Lead]
Hard to own

[Backing Vocals]
Good!

[Lead]
But maybe I can learn
To make a home

Without becoming
One.

[Final piano crash]