Ephemeral

((Target length: 3:40–4:00. Do not exceed 4:05. Concise arrangement with no extended intro, solo, repeated chorus, or outro.))

((Intro: two short cycles of delicate clean guitar harmonics in 7/8. Maximum 10 seconds. No drums.))

((Verse 1: restrained close-miked vocal. Bass and soft rim clicks gradually enter.))

For one sweet second

I had the answers

I had solutions

Waiting in line

Something was forming

Just out of nowhere

Already leaving

Before it was heard

((Pre-Chorus: drums build beneath the shifting meter. Vocal rises naturally without becoming theatrical.))

Now it all seems to fade

Just as fast as it arrived

I reached for somewhere safe to put it

It left before I knew its name

((Chorus: open into spacious 4/4. Huge progressive-rock release with wide guitars and soaring wordless harmonies. Sing the single word across several measures, sustaining the final open vowel before resolving into the L.))

Ephemeraaaaal…

((Brief instrumental: 8 measures maximum. Expressive guitar states the central melody once. No extended solo.))

((Verse 2: return immediately to 7/8. Remove one note from the original guitar figure so it feels subtly incomplete.))

There was a color

Folded behind me

Something with wings that

Never stood still

I felt it land there

Light as an answer

Then I remembered

I had to remember

((Pre-Chorus 2: heavier drums and layered guitars. Vulnerable urgency.))

Now all I seem to keep

Is the feeling it was mine

And the empty place it touched

Before it disappeared inside

((Chorus: full band. Keep the lead vocal sparse and do not repeat the chorus.))

Ephemeraaaaal…

((Bridge: alternating 5/4 and 6/4. Instruments progressively fall away. Vocal close and nearly spoken.))

Maybe it mattered

Maybe it didn’t

Maybe it could have

Changed everything

All that remains is

Knowing I had it

Knowing I watched it

Open its wings

((Final pre-chorus: everything drops to one sustained guitar note and a faint pulse.))

For one sweet second

It all made sense

((Final chorus: one concise unresolved swell. Hold the word while the band moves underneath it. Do not repeat.))

Ephemeraaaaal…

((Outro: cut off before the word and chord fully resolve. After one brief pause, play the incomplete opening guitar figure once. End within 15 seconds.))