Opera on the Block, by President Anderson

Intro — Orchestra tuning, crowd murmur on Ferry Street

Lead vocal, operatic, over strings
Lights go low on the corner hall
Velvet ropes and a bodega wall

Choir
Ancora, ancora, the block is awake

Build — Strings rising, kicks entering
(Doors are open, find your seat)
(Tonight the opera meets the street)

Drop — Jersey club kicks, chopped vocals
Ah-ah-ah, Ferry Street
Ah-ah-ah, feel the beat

Outro — Curtain rises, single held note
Aaah

Intro — Solo operatic lead vocal, cathedral reverb
Aaah
Amore, ascolta

Hook A — Lead vocal, belted, chopped vocal chops
Sing it to the ceiling, let the chandelier shake
Aria on the block, every heart gonna break
Sing it to the ceiling, curtain call tonight
Opera in the club under neon light
(ah-ah-ah)

Verse 1 — Rap, bouncy Jersey club flow
Velvet seats empty but the floor is packed
Bed squeak kicks and the aria on the track
Tuxedo on, but my sneakers on too
Ballet on the dance floor, we bounce like we do
Conductor with a baton, I'm the DJ with the fade
Orchestra pit turning to a club parade
Every high note hitting like a flashing strobe
Phantom in the corner moving in his robe

Beat Switch

Hook B — Half-time, choir and 808, chant
Bravo, bravo, everybody stand
Roses on the stage, throw 'em with your hand
Bravo, bravo, give it one more time
Diva on the speaker and the bass on the line
(bravo)

Verse 2 — Rap, faster, triplet kicks
Act one, act two, now we on act three
Balcony screaming like they came to see me
Violins chopped up, looped on repeat
Pavarotti energy with a Newark beat
Opera glasses fogging from the heat in the room
Everyone singing like they're born to bloom
Curtain coming down but the party don't end
Encore, encore, let's run it again

Bridge — Lead vocal and strings only, slow, emotional
Amore, amore
This is the final scene
Amore

Drop

Hook A + Hook B — Layered, lead vocal and rap
Sing it to the ceiling (bravo, bravo)
Let the chandelier shake (everybody stand)
Aria on the block (bravo, bravo)
Opera in the club (throw 'em with your hand)
(ah-ah-ah)

Outro — Lead vocal holds final note, applause
Aaah
Bravo

Intro — Lead vocal, pizzicato strings
Ooh, the chandelier

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Make the chandelier shake, shake
Crystal raining on the floor
Make the chandelier shake, shake
Give me one more, one more

Verse 1 — Rap
Walked in the hall in a rented tux
Usher looked at me like I don't belong, tough luck
Bass in the basement and the strings upstairs
Grandma in the front row dancing in her chair
Tickets sold out but the side door's cracked
Whole block came through and we never going back
Velvet on the walls and the kicks on the floor
Choir hit a note and I'm begging for more

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Make the chandelier shake, shake
Crystal raining on the floor
Make the chandelier shake, shake
Give me one more, one more

Verse 2 — Rap, faster
Left foot, right foot, Jersey on the beat
Maestro with a baton tryna keep up with the heat
Program in my pocket, never read a page
Still know every note when I step on the stage

Bridge — Lead vocal and choir
Forte, forte
Let the crystal ring
Forte

Drop

Outro — Glass shatter, applause
Shake

Intro — Radio static, tuning between stations

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Turn the dial, turn the dial
There's a diva on the late-night station
Turn it up a while
Let her sing to the whole nation

Verse 1 — Rap
Two a.m., car parked, windows rolled down
Classical station the only thing in town
Flipped it to the club mix, flipped it right back
Then the DJ blended both and I lost track
Opera on the left, eight-oh-eight on the right
Neighbors on the porch like it's opening night

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Turn the dial, turn the dial
There's a diva on the late-night station
Turn it up a while
Let her sing to the whole nation

Verse 2 — Rap
Called in to the station like who is she
Host said she's a ghost from nineteen-oh-three
Record got scratches but the voice still clean
Harpsichord looping like a slot machine

Bridge — Lead vocal, slow
Bella notte
Stay on the air
Bella notte

Drop

Outro — Static fades
Turn the dial

Intro — Crowd chanting in the hall
One more! One more!

Hook — Lead vocal and crowd
Run it back, run it back
Ancora, one more time
Run it back, run it back
Till the sunrise hits the line

Verse — Rap
House lights on but nobody leaving
Coat check line and the whole room breathing
DJ said last one, crowd said no
Conductor pointed at the drums like go
Sweat on the program, ink running down
Best night we ever had in this town
Trumpets in the aisle and the strings on the stairs
Usher gave up, now he dancing in the chairs

Hook — Lead vocal and crowd
Run it back, run it back
Ancora, one more time
Run it back, run it back
Till the sunrise hits the line

Bridge — Choir
Ancora, ancora, ancora

Drop

Outro — Crowd roar
One more!

Intro — Pipe organ, minor key

Hook — Lead vocal, haunting
Who's that in the mask tonight
Dancing where there ain't no light
Who's that in the mask tonight
Gone before the morning light

Verse 1 — Rap, low and steady
Saw him by the speaker, never saw him leave
White mask, black gloves, something up his sleeve
Every time the organ hit, the lights went dim
Every girl on the floor was dancing with him
Nobody got his name, nobody got his face
Just a rose on the floor where he used to take his place

Hook — Lead vocal, haunting
Who's that in the mask tonight
Dancing where there ain't no light
Who's that in the mask tonight
Gone before the morning light

Verse 2 — Rap
Check the guest list, he was never on it
Check the cameras, nothing but a comet
Bartender swear he paid in old coins
Organ still playing and the power's off, boy

Bridge — Lead vocal, high held note
Aaah

Drop — Organ chops, heavy kicks

Outro — Organ, single note
Gone

Intro — Soft strings

Verse 1 — Rap
Came from the corner with a dream in a bag
Practiced in the stairwell, nobody clapped
Mama said sing, so I learned how to rhyme
Now the whole hall holding breath every time
Cheap shoes squeaking on a marble floor
Never been invited, now they holding the door

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Curtain call, curtain call
Everybody on their feet
Curtain call, curtain call
From the stage down to the street

Verse 2 — Rap
Roses at my shoes and I don't know what to say
Thought about the kid who got told to stay away
Took a bow for him, took a bow for the block
Took a bow for every door that was locked

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Curtain call, curtain call
Everybody on their feet
Curtain call, curtain call
From the stage down to the street

Bridge — Lead vocal and choir
Grazie, grazie
For every empty seat that filled

Drop

Outro — Applause
Curtain call

Intro — Harp

Verse 1 — Rap
Page one, I'm a nobody with a pen
Page two, met a girl at the opera house, and then
Page three, she was singing in a language I don't know
Still understood every word of the show

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Write it in the libretto
Every line, every note
Write it in the libretto
Every word that I wrote

Verse 2 — Rap
Act two, she was leaving on a train
Act three, I was standing in the rain
Wrote her name in the margin of the score
Never had a story worth singing before
Pencil marks fading where the tears hit the page
Still rehearsing lines for an empty stage

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Write it in the libretto
Every line, every note
Write it in the libretto
Every word that I wrote

Bridge — Lead vocal, soft
Fine, fine
This is where it ends

Drop

Outro — Harp
Libretto

Intro — Flute

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Up in the balcony seats
We got the best view in the house
Up in the balcony seats
Dancing while they're shushing us out

Verse — Rap
Cheap tickets, top floor, closest to the sky
Binoculars on and I'm waving goodbye
Rich folks downstairs sitting real still
We up here moving like a Jersey club drill
Popcorn ain't allowed but we snuck it in
Usher shook his head, then he joined in
Railing shaking and the chandelier swaying
Whole top floor louder than the band playing

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Up in the balcony seats
We got the best view in the house
Up in the balcony seats
Dancing while they're shushing us out

Bridge — Choir
Alto, alto, higher than the rest

Drop

Outro — Flute
Balcony

Intro — Brass hit

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Prima donna pull up
Make the whole room stop
Prima donna pull up
Front row to the top

Verse — Rap
She don't need a mic, she fill the hall alone
Lungs like a stadium, voice like a throne
Gown dragging on the floor, ten feet long
Bodyguards carry the train of the song
She hit the high note and the glasses crack
Then she hit the dance floor and she don't look back
Photographers fainting, critics in tears
Best review this city wrote in years

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Prima donna pull up
Make the whole room stop
Prima donna pull up
Front row to the top

Bridge — Lead vocal and choir
Brava, brava
Queen of the hall

Drop

Outro — Brass hit
Pull up

Intro — Crowd chatter in the lobby, bell rings

Lead vocal, humming softly
Mmm, mmm

Spoken — Casual
Fifteen minutes, grab a drink at the bar
Back in your seats when the lights flicker twice
Act two is where it gets real

Lead vocal, humming
Mmm

Outro — Bell rings twice

Intro — Car door slam, bass rattle

Hook — Tenor lead, operatic
Got a tenor in the trunk
Hear him shaking up the street
Got a tenor in the trunk
Riding on the beat

Verse — Rap
Subwoofers built for the opera house
Rolling past the park and it's turning out
Old man on the bench know every line
Kids on bikes trying to keep in time
Windows up but you can hear it a mile
Tenor hold a note and I hold the wheel
Neither one of us know how to chill

Hook — Tenor lead, operatic
Got a tenor in the trunk
Hear him shaking up the street
Got a tenor in the trunk
Riding on the beat

Bridge — Tenor and choir
Andiamo, andiamo
Take the long way home

Drop

Outro — Engine off, bass fades
In the trunk

Intro — Timpani roll

Hook — Lead vocal and choir
Fortissimo, fortissimo
Louder than the whole wide world
Fortissimo, fortissimo
Let the block hear every word

Verse — Rap, fast
Turn it to the max, no quiet in the room
Only one setting and it's straight to boom
Timpani hitting like the ground gon' crack
Choir in the back got the whole block's back
They said keep it down, we said we can't
Hundred-piece orchestra, one-man chant
Noise complaint framed on the studio wall
Proof that we were loudest of them all

Hook — Lead vocal and choir
Fortissimo, fortissimo
Louder than the whole wide world
Fortissimo, fortissimo
Let the block hear every word

Bridge — Lead vocal, highest held note
Aaaah

Drop — Full orchestra and kicks

Outro — Timpani hit
Fortissimo

Intro — Waltz in 3/4, strings and accordion

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Put your mask on, take my hand
Spin me round till I can't stand
Put your mask on, nobody knows
Who we are when the music goes

Verse — Rap
Feathers and sequins on the corner store steps
Everybody hiding but they still know the steps
One-two-three turned into one-two
Waltz flipped Jersey and the whole street knew
Landlord in a mask, can't tell who he is
Dancing with the tenant that he owes a deposit

Hook — Lead vocal, operatic
Put your mask on, take my hand
Spin me round till I can't stand
Put your mask on, nobody knows
Who we are when the music goes

Bridge — Lead vocal, soft
Chi sei, chi sei
Tell me before the dawn

Drop — Waltz chops into Jersey club kicks

Outro — Accordion
Masks off

Intro — Full orchestra

Verse — Rap, reflective
Every song had a place, every place had a name
Every name had a block and the block felt the same
Opera in the club, club in the hall
Didn't think it would work, now we doing it all
Said goodbye to the stage with my hand on my chest
Gave the night everything, gave the city my best

Hook — Lead vocal and choir
This is the final bow
Thank you for staying
This is the final bow
Hear the strings still playing

Bridge — Lead vocal and strings only, slow
Addio, addio
Until we meet again

Drop — Half-time, everything together

Hook — Lead vocal and choir
This is the final bow
Thank you for staying

Outro — Held final note, applause, curtain closes
Aaah
Bravo