Hard Hat in the Hallway

[Verse 1]
Your hard hat in the hallway
Still hanging on that nail
Your name tag on the counter
Coffee stain
Unpaid bill
They said it was an accident
"These things just happen sometimes"
But the word "sometimes" feels like thunder
Rolling through my spine
[Chorus]
Now every morning feels like falling
I flinch at how the kettle screams
I see the headlines in my heartbeat
I taste sirens in my sleep
I'm scared the sky could crack and take me
Scared the ground might disappear
But if I stop living
Brother
Then I leave you here
So I'll drag this shaking body
Through another year
[Verse 2]
I count my breaths in crosswalks
Watch the light like it’s a test
I memorize the exits
Map escape routes in my chest
I laugh too loud at parties
So they won't hear my teeth
Chatter at the thought of
How fast a life can leave
[Chorus]
'Cause every hallway feels like warning
Every suitcase feels like last
I hear the echo of your steel-toes
In the ticking of the glass
I'm scared the sky could crack and take me
Scared the ground might disappear
But if I stop living
Brother
Then I leave you here
So I'll drag this shaking body
Through another year
[Bridge]
I talk to you in traffic (you'd hate my driving)
I lay your jacket on my chair
I light a candle in the kitchen
Let the wax drip like a prayer
Then I feel you in the silence
In the soft click of the door
A whisper in my rib cage
"Little sis
Want more"
[Chorus]
So I'll let the morning light come find me
Let the pavement feel my feet
Book the trip you always promised
Taste the salt
The foreign streets
Yeah
The sky could crack and take me
Yeah
The ground might disappear
But if I keep living
Brother
Then I keep you near
Every step I take in terror
Is a step you're walking here
[Outro]
Your hard hat in the hallway
I leave it where it stays
I carry you in stories
As I walk into the day

rock, Emotional rock ballad with female vocals; clean electric arpeggios and intimate piano in the verses, then wide distorted guitars and tom-heavy drums lifting the choruses. Subtle string pads bloom under the bridge for extra ache. Vocal starts fragile and close-mic’d, then climbs into a gritty, belted hook with stacked harmonies and a soaring final chorus that ends on a held note and long reverb tail., female vocals, ballad