[Catch and Release]
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[VERSE 1 – Whispered lead + ambient guitar + soft pads]
I saw you laughing in slow motion
Like a breeze rippling across the ocean
Eyes that spark, then fade like stars—
Close enough, but always far
I reach out with trembling hands
Try to hold what never lands
You smile and it floats away
A feeling I can't make stay
---
[PRE-CHORUS – Finger snaps + rising harmonies + distant vocal FX]
Is it real, or am I chasing air?
Every glance—was it ever there?
I name you “hope” and you disappear
You were so close, but never near
---
[CHORUS – Full drop: breathy falsetto + mellow beat + layered synth textures]
I try to catch these butterflies
With my heartbeat as a net
Every time I call it love
It slips through my silhouette
I hold too tight—they fade to mist
I let them go—they never miss
Why do feelings feel like flight?
So pretty...
Too fragile for the light
---
[VERSE 2 – Male harmony joins, soft electric guitar plucks + ambient rain FX]
You leaned in with lips like rain
Whispered truths I can’t explain
One breath, one spark, then gone again
Like perfume in the summer wind
I bottled up what I should’ve said
Now it flutters in my chest instead
I trace the shape of what we were
But wings don’t stay—they blur
---
[PRE-CHORUS – Repeat with layered vocals + shimmer reverb]
I swore I’d let them land this time
But fear clips wings more than the climb
I whispered "stay"—they heard "goodbye"
And flew off in the sky
---
[CHORUS – Repeat with harmony stack + fuller bass and soft percussive build]
I try to catch these butterflies
With my heartbeat as a net
Every time I call it love
It slips through my silhouette
I hold too tight—they fade to mist
I let them go—they never miss
Why do feelings feel like flight?
So pretty...
Too fragile for the light
---
[BRIDGE – Whispered / vocoder FX + reversed synth textures]
Let ‘em land / Don’t chase
Let ‘em feel / Don’t name
Let ‘em fall / like rain—
Even butterflies fear pain
---
[FINAL CHORUS – Half-time feel first half, then swell to final layered climax]
I try to catch these butterflies
But they were never mine to get
Even when they brushed my skin
They stayed just out of regret
[Beat returns – rich harmonies + cinematic strings]
I hold too tight—they fade to mist
I let them go—they never miss
I chase the shape of something right—
So lovely...
But gone before the night
---
[OUTRO – Soft reverb trail, lo-fi vinyl crackle + male harmony]
Butterflies, butterflies…
I loved you in silence.
And silence...
was the only way you stayed.
ShellyG3
