The Shelf Above The Register

Intro

Scanner beeps soft through the silence

Verse

Your coat hangs on a hook, mine's still hung from last week

Socks in my pocket warm from walking home late

Six a.m. and the fluorescent hums along

Same four songs looped since the doors first open

I don't mind it now like I did at nine

Pre-Chorus

Tell me why do hours blur when you're behind that counter?

Is it the way you laugh so easy, or the coffee's just that hot?

Every shift is long but yours makes it fly

Somehow my feet move quicker than they know should

Chorus

You work a smile like a light switch overhead

Brighter than the bulbs above my head

I clock in slow and I'm still late

Just to stand here watching you flip those tags on rate

Verse

Your nametag's curling soft by eleven, yours did too

Same worn cart with the wheels that catch at the door

You ask how my morning's going like it matters more

I tell you nothing, just hand you back the money

Some customers glance and look right through the glass

You don't — you keep checking up on everyone

Pre-Chorus

Tell me why do hours blur when you're behind that counter?

Is it the way you laugh so easy, or the coffee's just that hot?

Every shift is long but yours makes it fly

Somehow my feet move quicker than they know should

Chorus

You work a smile like a light switch overhead

Brighter than the bulbs above my head

I clock in slow and I'm still late

Just to stand here watching you flip those tags on rate

Bridge

Maybe it's not even kindness, maybe it's just habit

That keeps me folding shirts so neatly each hour

But something in your eyes says this won't be a minute

Something like a beacon humming through the shower

Chorus

You work a smile like a light switch overhead

Brighter than the bulbs above my head

I clock in slow and I'm still late

Just to stand here watching you flip those tags on rate