Jury Duty Waiting Room

Bureaucratic Dread Records' third release finds its subject in the courthouse waiting room — specifically, that particular strain of suspended time you experience after showing up exactly when they told you to, only to discover that "by nine" was a suggestion for you, not for the process. You've checked in, surrendered your phone to a basket, and now sit in a plastic chair that was last comfortable in 1987. The bailiff has been "just a minute" away for forty-five minutes. A man two rows over fell asleep before the second orientation video finished.

The track opens on Rhodes piano and a soft drum loop, vinyl crackle filling the air the way courthouse silence fills a room — not quite peaceful, but not hostile either. Just present. The muted trumpet arrives in the chorus the way a small bureaucratic concession sometimes does: briefly, warmly, then gone. The vocal hook ("they said be here by nine — it's almost noon") lands deadpan and without complaint, which is exactly how most people experience jury duty: not with rage, but with the particular tiredness of someone who did everything right and is still waiting.

This is music for that waiting. It does not resolve. It does not rush. It simply sits with you.

[Intro] (wordless hum) mmm... mmm... mmm...

[Verse 1] Plastic chairs lined up like dominoes A number in my hand, nowhere to go The AC hums the same three notes all day Someone's phone just playing games away A water cooler gurgles by the door I've read this pamphlet maybe three times or more

[Pre-Chorus] I checked the clock at eight fifty-nine Brought a book I haven't opened since ninth grade They said the process wouldn't take much time That was before the whole morning slipped away

[Chorus] They said be here by nine — it's almost noon The vending machine took my dollar twice Civic duty under fluorescent light They said be here by nine — it's almost noon

[Verse 2] A man in row C has been asleep since ten The bailiff smiled — that was hours ago, back then The questionnaire asked if I could be fair I wrote "yes" and then just sat and stared A woman knits a scarf in burgundy At least one of us is being productive

[Pre-Chorus] I checked the clock at eight fifty-nine Brought a book I haven't opened since ninth grade They said the process wouldn't take much time That was before the whole morning slipped away

[Chorus] They said be here by nine — it's almost noon The vending machine took my dollar twice Civic duty under fluorescent light They said be here by nine — it's almost noon

[Bridge] Maybe today they'll call my name Maybe I'll just sit here all the same Another cup of water, paper cup At least nobody needs anything from me right now The clock moves slow when nothing's at stake But maybe that's a kind of rest I needed to take

[Chorus] They said be here by nine — it's almost noon The vending machine took my dollar twice Civic duty under fluorescent light They said be here by nine — it's almost noon

[Outro] (humming) mmm... mmm... They said be here by nine... mmm... mmm... It's almost noon...