Say Goodbye First

(Sparse piano → slow strings → restrained orchestral swell)

Your keys are still here on the table

Like you forgot to leave all the way

I keep pretending I don’t notice

How every breath sounds like your name

I thought we’d have more time than this

More reasons not to quit

But love don’t die in one night

It just gets tired of trying

If this is the moment we break

I need you to look at my face

If you’re gonna go

Say goodbye first

Don’t hold me close

Then let it hurt

I can handle the truth tonight

Just don’t leave me in the in-between light

If you’re gonna go

Say goodbye first

⸻

I’ve packed my heart in quiet ways

Folded up what I couldn’t save

I’ve learned that love can be sincere

And still not strong enough to stay

I don’t regret the nights we tried

Or the parts of me you saw

But staying now would break us both

And I love you too much for that

If I lie and say we’ll be okay

I’ll steal your chance to walk away

If I’m gonna go

I’ll say goodbye first

I won’t leave hope

Where it can hurt

You deserve a cleaner end

Than promises I can’t defend

If I’m gonna go

I’ll say goodbye first

⸻

T:

I kept waiting for a sign

That you were choosing me this time

G:

I kept praying love would change

But love don’t grow where fear remains

(Harmonised voices)

So stand with me in what is real

Don’t touch me just to help me heal

This is the kindest thing we do

Let go before we turn untrue

(Strings swell, then drop to piano)

⸻

If we’re gonna break

Say goodbye first

Don’t fade away

Make it hurt

I can live with letting go

I just can’t love a ghost

If we’re gonna break

Say goodbye first

⸻

T:

I’ll be okay… just not tonight

G:

You’ll find a love that stays and fights

(Harmonised voices)

If this is where our story ends

Let it end with honesty

Say goodbye first

Then set me free

(Final piano note, silence)