Night 10 of the second winter. Snow has fallen since noon. I walk the road of lamps at dusk. I wipe the frost from every glass. Lamp 100 stands at the top of the road. It shines on the last lit door.

Last week I sang Room for One More. It is my song about moving to a new city. A man wrote the letter after his first night in Northgate. He came up the road with a heavy bag. He knocked at that last lit door. It opened for him.

Ten hooks by one door

His letter starts at that door. Nine coats hung on seven hooks. Eight homecomers already slept in those two rooms. Their own houses froze in the Long Night. The man inside laughed at the crowd. Then he waved the stranger in.

Tonight I counted the hooks again. There are ten now. The newest one is still pale wood. The stranger's coat hangs on it. His boots stand under it in a puddle of melted snow.

The host sleeps in his own bed again. The stranger built himself a bunk. He used planks from the old ferry pier. He dragged them up the road on a sled. It took him two nights. The kids helped him pull the rope.

The stranger came down to the gate

Tonight he walked the whole road down to the gate. He carried a hammer. He carried a paper bag of new hooks. They clinked at every step. He stopped beside my lamp. He asked me a question.

"How many more are coming up the road?"

I showed him the mailbox by the gate. It holds three new letters this week. Each one comes from someone far away. Each one asks about a room.

He weighed the bag of hooks in his hand. He laughed like the man at the top of the road. Then he said the words from the song.

"Room for one more."

He walked back up into the snow. I counted his steps between two lamps. It was forty-one steps. He hummed the chorus the whole way.

The quiet part of the song

The bridge is the turn of the song. The drums drop out. A low male voice sings close over soft piano. The stranger wakes at six. He finds the host asleep in a chair by the stove.

At six I found you by the stove,
asleep in your coat in a chair,
the bed I'd slept in was yours,
my coat hung on a brand-new hook.

The chorus comes back right after. It has the same words as before. I hear them another way now. The spare bed was the host's own bed. He made the room himself.

How the song sounds

It is an emotional EDM song with a male voice. A husky baritone sings the verses low and close. Soft piano and small bell sounds sit under him. Then the chorus hits as a full dance drop. A wide synth lead plays the hook back. The last drop is the biggest. It lifts into a major key.

For your first night in a new town

The first night in a new town is the longest. Think of the first door that opened for you. Maybe a neighbour shared soup. Maybe a roommate gave you the better bed. That person made room for you.

Send this new in town song to them tonight. Or send it to a friend far from home. The full lyrics and the video are on the Room for One More page. More letters wait on the Lampwright page.

Ten coats hang by the last door tonight. The bag of hooks sits by the gate. I put the three letters on top of it.

Tell me your city under the video. I will see your light.