No Volume Knob

"No Volume Knob"

(Stil: intimate piano folk, ruhige Stimme, fast gesprochen, trocken statt dramatisch. Der Text erklärt, er klagt nicht an.)

[Verse 1] (sparse piano, conversational, almost casual)

Let me tell you how a normal minute goes

The fridge hums in B-flat, and I know

The clock is louder than you think it is

Your pen clicks twice, and I've counted it

Someone's chewing three rooms away

I'm still smiling, I'm still okay

It's not that I'm not listening to you

I'm listening to everything, that's the thing I do

[Pre-Chorus] (a second note joins, tempo steady)

Most people have a filter

Mine just never came with the set

So every sound walks in the front door

And no one's checking yet

[Chorus] (soft choir, plain and warm, no big lift)

There's no volume knob, there's no off

Just me, and the room, and all of it

Don't take it personally when I go quiet

It's not you, I've just run out of space to sit

There's no volume knob, there's no off

But you can lower yours, a little, for me

That's all I'm asking, that's the whole thing

Soft voice, one sound at a time, and I'll be free

[Verse 2] (piano gets tighter, rhythm slightly faster)

Now add a deadline and a ringing phone

Add a door that slams, add the light's low drone

Add someone asking "are you okay?"

Everything arrives at once, the same loud way

My skin gets thin, my words get few

I lose the sentence halfway through

It looks like I'm cold, it looks like I'm rude

It's just a full house, and I need the room

[Pre-Chorus] (breath audible, almost rushed)

It's not a mood, it's not a choice

It's a body doing math

Too many signals, no way out

And you're standing in its path

[Chorus] (choir thins to a hum, voice flatter, tired)

There's no volume knob, there's no off

Just me, and the room, and all of it

If I leave the table, if I need the dark

Let me go, I'll be back, I'm not quitting

There's no volume knob, there's no off

But a quiet door and ten minutes alone

Will give me back the person you know

Who laughs, who listens, who wants to be home

[Bridge] (piano alone, spoken, lower voice)

I'm not asking you to tiptoe

I'm not asking you to change

Just believe me when I say it hurts

Even when it looks like nothing's strange

[Final Chorus] (full choir, but soft, a little warmer)

There's no volume knob, but there's a way

You can say it softly, I can say it too

I can tell you "now's too much" and mean it

And you can hear it as a gift, not a rule

There's no volume knob, but there's me

Hearing the world a little too clear

And if you stay a while, in the quiet

You'll hear what I hear

[Outro] (one last piano note, fridge hum fades in and out)

Thanks for listening

(softly, almost a laugh) I know, I know. I'm good at that.