[Intro – fingerpicked resonator, crickets, distant organ]
Crickets hum in the ditch out back
Porch swing still, won’t swing back
One bulb buzzin like a tired prayer
Whole world holdin breath right there
[Verse 1 – sparse beat]
Raised on rust and second chances
Bent nails, bad luck, hard answers
Pawpaw said son love’ll break you clean
So I welded mine shut, cold and mean
Long nights taught me how to stay numb
Wrong fights made a man go dumb
Stone in my chest, bone in my grin
Dead-eyed boy with a war within
Ran on spite and white-knuckle faith
Told myself closin up kept me safe
[Short Dubstep Solo – low wobble, minimal drums]
[Chorus – beat locks, gospel-style harmonies]
In the quiet, when the dark gets thick
I remember how I never let nobody in
Hard hands, hard eyes, hard walls
Built so high I felt nothin at all
Now the silence don’t feel so cruel
Yeah I’m alone in this room but I’m thinkin of you
In the quiet, when the world turns blue
I was hard as a rock till I broke for you
[Mini Blues Guitar Solo – slide guitar over groove]
[Dubstep Drop – quick wobble, brief tension]
[Verse 2 – stripped back again]
Talked to my scars like they’d talk back
Drank my past till it tasted black
Clock said run, I said one more sin
Played chicken with fate, let the fuse burn in
You walked in soft but sure as dawn
Eyes said leave but your voice said gone
Smelled like truth and tired hope
Saw the cracks I was hidin most
[Short Blues Guitar Fill – before chorus]
[Chorus – slightly bigger harmonies]
In the quiet, when the dark gets thick
I remember how I never let nobody in
Hard hands, hard eyes, hard walls
Built so high I felt nothin at all
Now the silence don’t feel so cruel
Yeah I’m alone in this room but I’m thinkin of you
In the quiet, when the world turns blue
I was hard as a rock till I broke for you
[Bridge – low vocal, organ pad]
When the lights go dead
And the dark talks loud
All them old ghosts circle round
I hear my old ways scratch the door
But your name hits first, shakes the floor
[Full Blues Slide Guitar Solo]
[Dubstep Breakdown – bass growls, chopped echoes]
quiet…
dark…
don’t run…
found you…
[Final Chorus – full but restrained]
In the quiet, when the dark don’t scare me
I know now why I kept my heart locked tight
Hard years, hard miles, hard carry
But you laid your head on my worst nights
Now the silence sounds like truth
Ain’t afraid of the dark if it leads to you
In the quiet, when the world turns blue
I was hard as a rock till I broke for you
[Outro – guitar and organ only]
Crickets still sing
Porch still don’t sway
Light’s on in the kitchen
You stayed
Rooster901
