Museum Nightlife

The millennia give way to the glittering moment as night settles into a great museum. Marble holds its breath all day Under glass the centuries lay Latin tags and dust in beams The dead lie quiet in their dreams Then the doors give up a sigh Heels come ringing, voices high Three thousand years look up to see The living in their finery [Chorus] Museum nightlife, the halls are waking up Sequins by the sarcophagus, champagne in a plastic cup Museum nightlife, the past can only stare While the future films itself and hangs it in the air We're all relics come the morning, so hold the pose, hold the pose Museum nightlife, the marble never knows [Verse 2] Pharaoh's got a velvet rope, the Venus got a sponsor's name Every arm's a tripod now, every face is in a frame Canapés on silver trays beside a Bronze Age bowl Everybody's curating something they call their soul Stiff collars and bare shoulders drift from room to room Bright loud laughter landing on a Roman tomb [Chorus] Museum nightlife, the halls are waking up Sequins by the sarcophagus, champagne in a plastic cup Museum nightlife, the past can only stare While the future films itself and hangs it in the air We're all relics come the morning, so hold the pose, hold the pose Museum nightlife, the marble never knows [Verse 3] A rhythm and a beat and some lyrics half-remembered Calling to a summer that slipped away one September Nobody knows the verses, everybody knows the hook Every mouth is moving, every eye is on the look The suits jerk on their hinges, the gowns swing on the beat Like mannequins remembering they used to have feet And the statues watch it all with their eyes rubbed blank Wondering which of us goes in the next glass tank [Bridge] And at every corner, feathered girls are posed Bare legs, painted faces, holding still like they're composed Reminders, if you needed one, the night is make-believe The showgirls never blink and the showgirls never leave So dance, little relic, while the lights are still on Something's got to be alive by the time the night is gone [Final Chorus] Museum nightlife, the halls are waking up Sequins by the sarcophagus, champagne in a plastic cup Museum nightlife, the past can only stare While the future films itself and hangs it in the air We're all relics come the morning, so hold the pose, hold the pose Museum nightlife, the marble never knows [Outro] Lights up, coats on, the guards throw the locks Ten thousand tiny galleries keep scrolling on the clock Marble takes its breath again, the halls go cold and still The digital museums never close And they never will