Forced Exchange

[Verse 1]
November's first frost on the glass where I sit
Saw your queen take a rook, yeah, and the shadow of it
Against the pawn-shop fluorescence on the fourth-floor stair
Now I'm stuck with a position that just ain't fair

[Chorus]
It's a forced exchange, a move I gotta make
But every line I calculate leads to the same heartbreak
A forced exchange, and Marcus, for your sake
I hope there's a variation where the board don't break

[Verse 2]
The radiator breathes a low, dissonant tone
"It's his life," Lena whispered, "you leave that board alone."
But the pressure in my temples is a developing threat
A sacrifice I'm seeing, or just a move I'll regret?

[Chorus]
It's a forced exchange, a move I gotta make
But every line I calculate leads to the same heartbreak
A forced exchange, and Marcus, for your sake
I hope there's a variation where the board don't break

[Bridge]
Maybe I'm the bishop on the wrong-colored square
Stuck watching the whole damn game from three floors up in the air

[Outro]
A forced exchange...
Hope the board don't break.