Just because I'm losing
Doesn't mean I'm lost
Doesn't mean I'll stop
Doesn't mean I would cross

Just because I'm hurting
Doesn't mean I'm hurt
Doesn't mean I didn't get
What I deserved
No better and no worse

I just got lost
Every river that I tried to cross
Every door I ever tried was locked
Ohhh and I'm...
Just waiting 'til the shine wears off

You might be a big fish
In a little pond
Doesn't mean you've won
'Cause along may come
A bigger one

And you'll be lost
Every river that you tried to cross
Every gun you ever held went off
Ohhh and I'm...
Just waiting 'til the firing stopped
Ohhh and I'm...
Just waiting 'til the shine wears off

Up in the morning
Up in the evening
Picking down clocks
When the birds come out to eat
Oh to eat

Up on the mountain
Down in the king's lair
Pushing these blocks
In the heat of the afternoon,
Oh afternoon

We were never welcome here
We were never welcome here at all
No.
It’s who we are
Doesn’t matter if we’ve gone too far
Doesn’t matter if it’s all okay
Doesn’t matter if it’s not our day

So won’t you save us
What we are
Don’t look clear
Cause it’s all uphill from here
Oh.

Up in the attic
Down in the cellar
Lost in the static
Coming back for more
Oh for more

Out with the reason
In with the season
Taking down names
In my book of jealousy
Jealousy

We were never welcome here
We were never welcome here at all
No.

I ran away in floods of shame
I’ll never tell how close I came
As I crossed the Holland Road
Well you went left and I went right
As the moon hung proud and bright
You would have loved it here tonight

Spin me ‘round just to pin me down on the cover of this strange bed
Spin me ‘round just to pin me down

Wrap up your questions, keep them down
Let the water lead us home
And I was sorry for what I’d done
When you were young, I was not old
But our story was not told
But torn apart by greedy hands

Spin me ‘round just to pin me down on the cover of this strange bed
Spin me ‘round just to pin me down
Spin me ‘round just to pin me down I’ll be gone by the night’s end
Spin me ‘round just to pin me down

I’ll be home in a little while
Lover, I’ll be home 

Rather, he didn’t see David as much as he saw David’s expression. He had just barged in, backpack on and whispering on his cellphone when he had stopped, mid stride and looked up at the stage as if Adrian had just been beamed down by Enterprise. Confusion, and then slowly it gave way to something that looked to be the strangest mix of genuine excitement and pride that Adrian had ever seen.

His stomach churned in on itself with a sharp twist. Tearing his eyes away, he brought his attention back to Clipboard lady.

“Anything specific you would like to hear?” he asked. He hadn’t given this as much thought as he should have. But she was shaking her head.

“Doesn’t have to be a song from a musical or anything, just whatever you would like to sing.” she said.

That hardly narrowed it down. But somewhere, he seemed to already have an idea lurking his head.

He waited a beat, inhaling a whisp of air. And before he knew he had courage that needed working up he had already thrown himself into it, singing without realizing that he had just started and the voice in his ears, the overwhelmingly loud voice that was now echoing around the theatre, was all his.

“It’s empty in the valley of your heart.”

He watched, his mouth moving carefully around the words, as David’s expression changed to sudden realization as he recognized the song. Adrian kept eye contact, realizing somewhere at the back of his head that David’s eyes were green behind his blocky fake hipster glasses, not just a clear green but a green that seemed to be so bright and vibrant that they stood out in the shadowy theatre like they had little bright lamps behind them.

“But I will hold on hoping”

He smiled at Adrian, and Adrian had to shut his eyes or he knew he would forget the lyrics right then and there.

“I won’t let you choke

On the noose around your neck-”

He was belting it out now, not caring anymore about anyone around the theatre or around them or even what they were thinking if they heard. It was like he was four years old again and didn’t have a care in the world, he was just singing, singing as loud and as proud as he could. Somewhere in his head, Adrian knew if he was going to completely expose himself to his peers, he mind as well do it with all the pride he could seize up from inside himself.

He ended softly, almost whispering the last few lines before cutting off the notes, and the theatre fell into utter silence.

Adrian didn’t open his eyes.