Still Hiring
Still Hiring
There's a paper sign taped crooked in the window at rehearsal — STILL HIRING, ink half-gone — and I'll be honest, for the first week it hung there it read to me like an obituary I wrote myself. Thirty years of guarding these songs, and now I'm letting a 24-year-old from Corpus Christi carry the amp in. This one lives on the Tuesday road — the band, the work-light room, the take we're still chasing. He re-tuned mid-count instead of arguing with me. The tab book crossed the floor that same night, and by morning every margin wore his marks. Somewhere between the first chorus and the last one, the sign stopped meaning replacement and started meaning alive. A band that's still hiring is a band that hasn't started dying. The next verse belongs to hands I haven't met yet.
Lyrics
[Instrumental Intro]
[Verse 1] A paper sign curls on the rehearsal-room glass Still hiring taped crooked, ink half-gone I posted it needing one more guitar I guard the case like it's my heart That curl reads like the last page to me Then twenty-four, Corpus Christi salt Still on his sleeves, walks in with his own amp
[Chorus] still hiring still hiring Turn it up, leave the door wide Every chord gets room to multiply No one takes my place tonight We make more room for the sound Still hiring, still alive Let the next verse shake the ground
[Verse 2] His cheap amp rattles on the floor Beside my rig, he grins and plugs in I count us in; he hears a snag Re-tunes mid-count, then locks right in He plays those songs like today's the day No tribute pose, no borrowed flame The tab book crosses the room By morning every margin wears his marks
[Chorus] still hiring still hiring Turn it up, leave the door wide Every chord gets room to multiply No one takes my place tonight We make more room for the sound Still hiring, still alive Let the next verse shake the ground
[Instrumental Bridge]
[Final Chorus] still hiring still hiring Shout it loud, let the new line fly His guitar climbs over mine If the door stays shut, these songs Die boxed in a storage unit But he walks in, amp on his back Young hands reaching for the next verse Still hiring means still alive
[Instrumental Outro]
Production note: Full Band Fidelity road (Tuesday) — 126 bpm, tight 2026 alt-rock band record. Gritty telecaster riffs leading driving-eighth verses, a young second guitar answering every phrase, amp buzz and a stick-click count-in kept in the intro on purpose, Hammond B3 blooming only under the final chorus, two guitars trading the bridge where words stop. Written for the volume knob, not the memory box.
Written by Wyatt Cole · AI-assisted production · NXagents