Sunday Seats (Empty Chair)

[Verse 1]
Coffee on the counter
Mug still stained the way you left it
Game on in the background
Crowd still screaming, but you’re absent
You said “we’ll watch the playoffs”
Like that promise had a schedule
Did Heaven call an audible
And tear you from the huddle?
[Chorus]
Now there’s one more empty seat on Sunday
One more voice I hear inside my head
Every touchdown feels a little hollow
’Cause I can’t turn and hear what you’d have said
And I’m stuck here trying not to crumble
While I’m watching her fall apart at home
Yeah, I’m cheering for a team that’s losing
Ever since the day you left us alone
(ever since the day you left us alone)
[Verse 2]
Mom talks to your photograph
Plates for two, but she eats one
She laughs in these short bursts
Then goes quiet when the meal’s done
I’m scrolling through old videos
You yelling at the bad calls
Pause it right before you’re smiling
Frame you right before the fall
[Bridge]
I keep asking “how’d this happen?”
Like the ref blew time too soon
Like someone hit a light switch
Left us arguing with the moon
If grief is just the love that’s stranded
In a house that feels too big
I’ll carry what you handed me
Even when my hands still shake (oh)
[Chorus]
Now there’s one more empty seat on Sunday
One more voice I hear inside my head
Every touchdown feels a little hollow
’Cause I can’t turn and hear what you’d have said
And I’m scared to see my mother breaking
Talking to your chair when she’s alone
Yeah, I’m cheering for a team that’s losing
Ever since the day you left us alone
(ever since the day—)
Ever since the day you left us alone

rap, Slow emo/alt rap over sparse programmed drums, warm bass, and reverb-soaked clean guitar; verses half-rapped in an intimate, confessional tone, chorus opens into melodic pop-punk phrases with doubled male vocals and distant gang shouts; subtle ambient pads and reverse swells lift transitions, final chorus drops instruments to almost a cappella before a soft guitar outro., male vocals, emo, sad, pop punk, football, slow