Verse 1
I built your house on the tips of my fingers
Plateau of plastic keys
Stacked you high with paper and patience
Taught you how to breathe
I glued you tight with all of my secrets
Spun my trade in your bones
You were soft wood when I found you
Now you feel like stone
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Pre-Chorus
I knock on the frame I fashioned
Hear that hollow sound
Funny how I made your doorway
But I don’t live there now
⸻
Chorus
When the sunset hits your porch boards
And light slips through your panes
If you hear that old swing creakin’
Don’t you turn away
I’ll be standin’ in the twilight
Half memory, half rumor
Just the woman who built you
Coming back to borrow sugar
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Verse 2
You were mine to bend and fold
Clay beneath my hands
I only ever meant to love you
Into who you am
Now you wear the shape I gave you
Like it don’t belong to me
But every nail inside your rafters
Still whispers quietly
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Pre-Chorus (build more this time)
I knock on the frame I fashioned
Hear that hollow wood reply
Funny how I built the doorway
Still can’t step inside
⸻
Chorus (bigger, open the voice)
When the sunset hits your porch boards
And the evening settles slow
If you hear that swing still movin’
Baby, let me know
I’ll be standin’ in the twilight
Half memory, half rumor
Not a ghost — just someone
Still comin’ back for sugar
⸻
Bridge (strip it down — just piano + vocal)
I gave you breath and blueprint
Laid the floor you stand
Never meant to cage your shadow
Only wanted your hand
If there’s still a light inside you
Leave it on tonight
I don’t need the whole house back
Just a crack of light
⸻
Final Chorus (full swell — shift toward hope)
When the sunset hits your porch boards
And the evening settles slow
If you hear that swing still movin’
Baby, let me know
I’ll be standin’ in the twilight
Half memory, half rumor
Not a ghost — just lonely
Still comin’ back for sugar
I don’t need to live there
I just need the door
If you built a little room for me
I’ll build the rest once more
⸻
Tag (lift to G major here)
Leave the light on…
Leave the light on…
Leave the light on for me.
(Repeat softer, then fuller with harmony.)