The Concierge Smile

[Verse 1]
The brochure's on the side by the takeaways from Tuesday,
showing you the view from a floor that isn't built yet, anyway.
They sell it as a ready-made suit, a perfect, seamless design,
but I can see the way the shoulder pulls, that cut was never your line.
You'll trade the rumble of the Northern Line for the lift's silent ascent,
and wonder where the colour went.

[Chorus]
And the key fob will buzz inside your pocket, a clean electric sound,
while you're standing on your balcony, twenty storeys off the ground.
A perfect future, all sewn up tight,
just you and the city's indifferent light.

[Verse 2]
No more bass bleed from the flat below, just the hum of underfloor heat.
You'll trace our names in the condensation, then wipe the glass clean and neat.
"A proper investment," your dad will say, voice proud right down the phone,
he doesn't feel the chill in your tone, this quiet you've never known.
You'll have a guy for packages and a code to get inside,
and bare new places left to hide.

[Chorus]
And the key fob will buzz inside your pocket, a clean electric sound,
while you're standing on your balcony, twenty storeys off the ground.
A perfect future, all sewn up tight,
just you and the city's indifferent light.

[Bridge]
And for a second, you'll swear you smell the smoke from a Brixton Market grill,
feel the worn-out fabric of a bus seat, climbing Tulse Hill.
A ghost of a rhythm, a thread you can't quite catch,
pulling you back from the safety latch.

[Outro]
(Music strips to only voice and a melodic Fender bass line)
Just your reflection in the dark glass...
And the concierge smile as you walk past.