The last empty glass

The Last Empty Glass

(Key: A Minor. Tempo: Slow to mid-tempo. Style: Soulful Country-Blues Ballad. Instrumentation: Simple acoustic guitar, subtle Hammond organ, deep bass, and later, a powerful string section.)

Verse 1 (Stapleton Style - Raw, low, and slightly broken voice)

(Chord progression: Am - G - C - F)

The floorboards in this house are singing out your name.

Every creak and shadow, whispering the same.

It’s been eighteen months of rain, eighteen months of rust,

And I’m still standing here, covered in your dust.

I poured another one, but it don't hit right no more,

Just chasing down a feeling that walked out the door.

I should burn your memory, toss the key and run,

But I'm watching the cold rise on a lonely, frozen sun.

Pre-Chorus (Building Emotion)

(Chord progression: F - C - G - Am)

I got half a mind to call you, just to hear the line go dead.

'Cause silence is the loudest lie that echoes in my head.

I swore I was tough, swore I had the cure,

But that ain't what the truth is for.

Chorus (Adele Style - Massive, soaring, and emotionally exposed)

(Chord progression: C - G - Am - F - G)

I'm holding onto the last empty glass,

The ghost of a kiss that faded too fast.

You’re out there shining, you fixed your broken wings,

While I'm still counting all the bitter, stupid things.

Oh, I hear your song on every desperate, highway radio.

If love could save me, I'd have nowhere left to go.

I should be moving on, but I'm standing still,

On the edge of the wreck that you called 'I will.'

Verse 2 (Stapleton Style - More frustration, rising in pitch and volume)

(Chord progression: Am - G - C - F)

I drove your pickup truck down to the county line.

Thought the rumble of the engine would quiet down my mind.

But I saw your jacket draped across the seat,

And I could still smell the sweet, tired perfume of your defeat.

You said, "Darlin', this fire, it was too hot to keep."

Well, I'm wading through the ashes while the whole damn world's asleep.

You took the easy road, but I'm walking through the stones,

Paying for the sins of the seeds that we had sown.

Chorus (Adele Style - Full power, adding strings and backing vocals)

(Chord progression: C - G - Am - F - G)

I'm holding onto the last empty glass,

The ghost of a kiss that faded too fast.

You’re out there shining, you fixed your broken wings,

While I'm still counting all the bitter, stupid things.

Oh, I hear your song on every desperate, highway radio.

If love could save me, I'd have nowhere left to go.

I should be moving on, but I'm standing still,

On the edge of the wreck