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ZONA STYLE PROMPT: Country/pop with a subtle roots reggae groove, ~88 BPM. Intimate acoustic guitar and rim-click intro with light offbeat reggae guitar. Verses feel like reading old journal entries. Chorus opens into full country-pop with warm bass, B3 organ, ringing guitars, and layered harmonies. Male vocal, weathered and honest, not over-produced. Atmosphere should balance excitement and despair, like driving into a sunrise after surviving a very dark night. These lyrics reflect feelings from different moments in life, not the singer’s current reality. The message is that others are not alone.

I’m gone, or at least that’s how it felt,

Watching that old me fade away.

Somewhere between the dreams I had

And the dues I had to pay.

I wore a smile like work boots,

Laced them up every day.

Funny how you can choose a road

And still get lost along the way.

I had my reasons, I had my pride,

But some nights they were hard to hide.

I chose this life I didn’t choose,

Walked my own miles in somebody else’s shoes.

I changed into someone that don’t feel like me,

Still chasing the man I was meant to be.

If you’ve ever felt broke with a whole heart to give,

If you’ve ever been tired of just trying to live,

These ain’t the words of a man giving in…

They’re just old pages from where I’ve been.

I get obsessed with fixing pieces,

Holding on till my hands turn white.

Trying to save the world around me

While I’m losing my own fight.

Every day’s a small reminder

I’ve always been a little different somehow.

Like everybody else got the answers,

And I’m still trying to figure them out.

My whole existence felt like a prison,

And I thought I locked my family inside.

I tried… Lord knows I tried,

But I was barely surviving the ride.

I wrote, “God help me,” in the silence,

With a hand that could barely hold the pen.

I didn’t want to leave this world behind…

I just didn’t know how to carry it then.

I chose this life I didn’t choose,

Maybe that’s just what broken people do.

We lose ourselves, then we find a little truth,

Somewhere between the old and the new.

If you’re out there feeling lost tonight,

Thinking you’re the only one losing the fight,

Take these words if you need something to hold…

You’re not alone on this broken road.

No, these ain’t the words of a man giving in…

They’re just old pages from where I’ve been.

[Outro] (Softly, almost spoken over acoustic guitar and organ fading out)

I’m not there anymore… but I remember.

And if these words sound like your own…

I hope you know you’re not alone.