[Verse 1 — Quiet, Deep Voice]
I still set a place at the table,
Don’t know why I do…
Coffee gets cold like the truth does
When you’re talkin’ to a memory of you.
I fold the blankets the way you liked,
Even though you ain’t coming home…
Funny how routines can stay alive
While a man feels so alone.
[Backups – Soft, Gospel]
(You ain’t alone… you ain’t alone…)
⸻
[Verse 2 — Empathy Building]
Some nights I hear your footsteps
In the creak of the hallway floor.
And I swear my heart forgets itself,
Runs to meet you at the door.
But it’s just my mind playin’ mercy,
Tryna soften what’s too hard to hold…
Pain don’t ask if you’re ready
Before it hits you like the cold.
[Backups – Call & Response]
Lead: “Why’d you leave me with this weight?”
Backups: “Let it go… let it go…”
Lead: “But I don’t know how to heal.”
Backups: “Take it slow… take it slow…”
⸻
⭐ [Chorus — Designed To Break the Listener]
There’s a hurt in my hands where I held you too tight,
And a tear in my voice where I begged you to stay.
If love is a lesson, then Lord I ain’t right—
‘Cause I keep learnin’ the same pain every day.
Every day… every day…
(Backups echo “every day” softly like they’re crying with him.)
⸻
[Verse 3 — The Breakdown Section]
I found your sweater in the closet,
The one you wore that night.
I pressed it to my face and froze—
It still holds you just right.
And that’s when I finally shattered,
Dropped to my knees on the floor…
How can a man move forward
When he’s still sleeping by the door?
[Backups – Gentle Harmonic Tremble]
(Sleepin’ by the door… can’t take no more…)
⸻
⭐ [Bridge — The Part That Destroys Them]
If letting go means losing you,
And holding on means losing me…
Tell me, God, who wins this fight?
Tell me how it’s supposed to be…
(Organ swells; voice cracks, near-tears)
I’m scared I won’t be whole again,
Scared I’ll never really heal…
Scared the only time I feel alive
Is in the hurt I shouldn’t feel…
⸻
[Final Chorus — Softer, More Broken]
There’s a hurt in my hands where I carried your heart,
And a crack in my soul where the goodbye fell through.
I keep prayin’ for the strength to start,
But every sunrise still looks like you…
Still looks like you…
[Outro — Bare, Raw]
Mmm…
Some loves don’t leave clean…
Some goodbyes cut mean…
And some hands…
never learn to let go.
