THE LAST SEPTEMBER~

[VERSE 1] You had a worn-out jacket, navy blue Left it on my porch swing when the summer pulled through I kept the zipper broken, never fixed the seam Like I was holding onto something I didn't wanna leave You learned my coffee order, oat milk, extra sweet You said my laugh was louder every time we'd meet I memorized the cracks along your kitchen wall And the way you hummed when you weren't thinking at all

[PRE-CHORUS] And I told myself it was just the season changing That the ache would go the way the leaves always do But I still drive past your street on rainy evenings Like some part of me forgot the way home to someone new

[CHORUS] It was the last September before everything broke The last September, before the words we never spoke Burned down like paper lanterns in the October cold The last September, I was seventeen and whole

[VERSE 2] You had a playlist labeled Sunday Morning Drive You played it every time you needed to feel alive I pressed my hand against the cold window glass And wished that I could make some moments last But time moves like a highway, no reversing lanes And I was too proud then to call your name So I folded up the letters, hid them in a drawer And learned to love the silence like I loved you before

[PRE-CHORUS] And I told myself it was just the season changing That the ache would go the way the leaves always do But I still drive past your street on rainy evenings Like some part of me forgot the way home to someone new

[CHORUS] It was the last September before everything broke The last September, before the words we never spoke Burned down like paper lanterns in the October cold The last September, I was seventeen and whole

[BRIDGE] Maybe I was the one who packed the boxes Maybe I was the one who chose the silence Maybe seventeen was never meant to last forever But God, I'd trade a thousand brand new beginnings For one more hour in your passenger seat singing To the song we swore we'd never call our favorite

[FINAL CHORUS] It was the last September before everything broke The last September, before the words we never spoke Burned down like paper lanterns in the October cold The last September, I was seventeen and whole And I'm still looking for that girl In every room I walk into The last September, I was someone who believed in you

[OUTRO] September... The navy jacket... The broken zipper... The way you hummed... I still remember...

INSTRUMENTS: Fingerpicked acoustic guitar carries the verses alone, warm and intimate. Piano joins softly on the pre-chorus with gentle single notes. Brushed drums enter quietly on verse two. Electric guitar shimmer builds through the chorus. Strings swell powerfully on the bridge. Final chorus brings everything together full and wide open. Outro fades to acoustic guitar, soft strings, and whispered vocals slowly dissolving into silence.