[Intro – low hum, room tone tightening]
You don’t say my name
But you know it
[Verse 1]
You step closer than before
Not rushed, not slow
You don’t look angry
You don’t look like you don’t know
I try to speak
But the air feels thick
Like the room decided
This was it
[Pre-Chorus]
I see it in your hands
Before I hear it
[Chorus]
No exceptions
No mistake
No last second
No escape
You don’t flinch
You don’t explain
You finish what was left
By letting me remain
[Verse 2]
I think of Dan
I think of doors
I think of the night
I lived before
I want to say his name out loud
Like it might still work
Like it ever stopped
What was always hurt
[Pre-Chorus 2]
You don’t hesitate
You don’t ask
You just end
What time kept back
[Chorus]
No exceptions
No delay
No survival
Left to say
What was borrowed
Gets returned
What escaped
Gets learned
[Bridge – impact implied, sound drops]
(Sharp breath in)
(One dull sound)
(Silence falls too fast)
[Break – aftermath, clinical]
They’ll say it was violent
They’ll say it was fast
They’ll say the damage
Didn’t match the calm
They won’t find the thing
That did it
They won’t find a reason why
They’ll just find me
Where the quiet lives
And wonder how
[Final Chorus – restrained, crushing]
No exceptions
That’s the rule
No survivors
Left to prove
If I lived
It wasn’t fate
It was waiting
To be late
[Outro – distant, almost gone]
Tell Dan…
I tried.