AFTER-PARTY
The 2 a.m. refusal to go home: venue at capacity so you take the night elsewhere, make strangers into friends, and keep the party going even when nothing good is supposed to happen after midnight.
Listen: Apple Music
ISRC QZMEN2505192 (soundexchange)
Third chapter of US, the after-hours turn. The club says capacity, the night says we got a place that we go. Ocean Avenue, Electric Avenue: coastal geography as party logic, shortcuts for when the official room is full.
The verses admit the cost (running, falling, bruises nobody can account for), but the chorus isn’t moralizing. It sings the rule everyone already knows, nothing good ever happens after 2 am, while breaking it on purpose. The after-party isn’t a location, it’s a refusal to let the night end on someone else’s schedule. Nicole McCabe is on alto saxophone — the right instrument for a song about staying out past when the room has closed.
Also on the chapter EP: AFTER-AFTER-PARTY, the hook-and-chorus sequel with no new verses.
Written, performed, and mixed by Luke Francis Walton. Alto saxophone: Nicole McCabe.
Lyrics
I'm not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready yet I'm not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready yet Sorry We're at capacity No worries we got a place that we go Take a shortcut down ocean avenue Maybe we could take a swim Maybe I could talk with you Running Hmm not the best idea We're falling How'd I get this bruise, nobody knows Take a shortcut down electric avenue You know I wanna rock with you Are you down too? Nothing good ever happens After 2 am I wanna keep the party going Grab a stranger make a friend I don't know where to go but I know that I'm Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready yet I'm not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready yet Want a cigarette? Mmm what am I doin Over-consuming Don't think about it Oh for the hell of it I'll take a hit of it That wasn't a cigarette Ay yah yah Nothing good ever happens After 2 am I wanna keep the party going Grab a stranger make a friend I don't know where to go but I know that I'm Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready yet I'm not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready yet Nothing good ever happens After 2 am I wanna keep the party going Grab a stranger make a friend I don't know where to go but I know that I'm Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready yet I'm not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready to go home Not ready yet Oo I'll have another Can I get another Oo I'll have another Can I get another?