Lobby Litany

[Verse 1]
The plastic chair in City Hall is orange, like a traffic cone warning.
Wednesday, eleven in the morning, and the whole moment is crawling.
Yo, Cee, you seein' this? They got the AC blastin' arctic,
Same hum from the lights that we had in our first apartment.
I'm fillin' out a form in triplicate for the Parks Department,
Tryna get a permit for the stage, where the whole thing started.
A scuff on the tile looks like a map of the whole island,
I'm just starin' at the dust in the sunbeam, stayin' silent.

[Chorus]
I whisper your name to the drop-ceiling tile
Said it's been a long while, Cee, it's been a long while
I whisper your name to the drop-ceiling tile
They flash a fake smile, but you had the real smile

[Verse 2]
The security guard told me "Ma'am, have a seat," and I swear that he meant it.
This politeness is rented, tastes like aspartame, synthetic.
Remember when we split a cherry slush in the summer static?
Now the sugar in my circle is all Sweet'n Low packets.
Got a new crew that calls me when the checks hit the mattress,
But you the one who saw the vision through my busted-up glasses.
Used to hold down the realest intersection, now I'm stuck in this corner,
Waitin' for some dude in a bad tie to tell me my new world order.

[Chorus]
I whisper your name to the drop-ceiling tile
Said it's been a long while, Cee, it's been a long while
I whisper your name to the drop-ceiling tile
They flash a fake smile, but you had the real smile

[Bridge]
(Beat breaks down, heavy synths swell, ad-libs are layered, whispered, echoing)
(Yeah...)
(You see this?)
(Uh-huh... traffic cone orange...)
(Nah, for real...)
(...like he meant it...)
(A long while...)
(Heh... yeah.)

[Outro]
My number still ain't called yet.
But I guess you knew that already.