AFTER I STOP (RESOLUTION CUT)
[Intro — night air, soft footsteps]
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
[She stops]
[One additional footstep]
…
[Female, quietly]
Please.
[Verse 1]
Same road home
I take every night
Porch lights glow
Moon leaking white
Keys in my hand
Phone in my coat
Nothing behind me
Far as I hope
Heel on the pavement
Easy and slow
Mine make four
Then five answers—
[Footstep]
Please.
[Pre-Chorus]
I walk
It walks
I slow
It talks
And every time
I turn around
There is empty air
[Silence]
So why—
[Footstep]
[Chorus]
Why you take one more step
After I stop?
One more sound
When everything drops?
I know my walk
I know my feet
I know what belongs
To me
So tell me what moves
When I do not
And why you take one more step
After I stop?
[Instrumental — footsteps become part of pocket]
[Verse 2]
Passed Miss Annie’s
House on the bend
Her porch been quiet
Since I was ten
Streetlight shimmered
Right when I crossed
My shadow kept walking
After I stopped
[Beat drops]
[Female]
Mm-mm.
Don’t do that.
[Footstep, closer]
I said—
Don’t.
[Pre-Chorus]
I walk
It walks
I breathe
It breathes
I crossed the street
To prove to myself
Whatever this is
Knows where I’ll be
[Footsteps cross stereo field]
Left
Right
Left
Right
[She stops]
[Footstep]
[Female, barely audible]
Oh, God.
[Chorus]
Why you take one more step
After I stop?
One more sound
When everything drops?
I know my walk
I know my feet
I know what belongs
To me
So tell me what moves
When I do not
And why you take one more step
After I stop?
[Bridge — drums disappear]
[Only her footsteps]
Maybe it ain’t behind me.
[Steps continue]
Maybe that’s why
I never see it.
[She stops]
[Silence]
Maybe—
[One footstep directly ahead]
[Female]
…
Oh.
[Low male hum enters far beneath]
[Female, very softly]
You’re not following me.
[Long silence]
You’re walking where
I’m meant to stop.
[Sub-bass pulse]
[Final Chorus — restrained, almost whispered]
You take one more step
After I stop
One more sound
When everything drops
I learned your walk
I learned your beat
Now I know
What belongs to me
I feel you move
When I do not
And hear that last step
After I stop
[Outro — no music]
[Female footsteps, slowly retreating]
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
[She stops]
[Silence]
[Footstep]
[Another footstep]
[Another]
[Female, now distant]
I’m coming.
[Footsteps continue, matched to hers]
[Cut]