Pale Gold In The Rearview

[Verse 1]
You’d sigh
Say I’m dramatic
Turn my tears into a joke
Left me circling the blame
While you stayed clean
Untouched
A ghost
You’d twist every small confession
Into proof that I was wrong
I kept shrinking on the edge of our bed
Till I couldn’t hear my own song
[Chorus]
You never said “I hurt you”
You just said “you’re sensitive”
Built a house on half-truths
Then called it innocence
You almost killed the color in me
Took my fire
Called it too much heat
But I walked out of that war
Now your power’s on the floor
And my heart’s not yours anymore
[Verse 2]
You’d kiss me after yelling
Like that wiped the slate back clean
Leave your anger on my body
Say it’s love
Say it’s routine
Signed my name beside your future
While you signed away the blame
I got tired of apologizing
Just for speaking out your name
[Chorus]
You never said “I hurt you”
You just said “you’re sensitive”
Built a house on half-truths
Then called it innocence
You almost killed the color in me
Took my fire
Called it too much heat
But I walked out of that war
Now your power’s on the floor
And my heart’s not yours anymore
[Bridge]
[low vocal register] I kept the ring in a small black box
Buried deep in a dresser drawer
Not to mourn you
To remember what I won’t die for [crescendo]
I learned to sleep in the center of the bed
Learned to love my own reflection in the glass
You’re a chapter in a burned-out book
I finally turned the last
[Chorus]

pop, Smoky alt-pop ballad built around dark, intimate piano and subtle electronic pulses. Verses stay hushed and close-mic’d, with female vocals almost confessional; chorus blooms with wide reverb, layered harmonies, and a warm sub bass under the left-hand piano. Sparse percussion and reverse FX rise into the bridge, then pull back to just piano and voice for the final hook, leaving a lingering, triumphant ache., ballad