Borrowed Time at the Kitchen Table

[Verse 1]
Coffee ring on the wooden table
Your old chair still leans to the side
I swear I hear your Sunday humming
In the ticking of the clock you left behind
You taught me how to hold a hammer
How to bite my tongue
Sometimes
But you never showed me how to say
Goodbye while you’re still alive
[Chorus]
We’re all just sitting here on borrowed time
Passing down stories
Passing down lines
Your hands on mine on that steering wheel
Teaching me what stays
What isn’t real
If every breath is a small goodbye
Let me love you honest till the day we die
[Verse 2]
Mom calls late
Her voice gets quiet
Talks in circles
Laughs then sighs
Says you’re sleeping more these days
Says it like a thing that’s fine
I drive back roads to the old house
Every mile
A year gone by
Windows glow with the old yellow light
I almost turn around
Then I arrive
[Chorus]
We’re all just sitting here on borrowed time
Passing down stories
Passing down lines
Your hands on mine on that steering wheel
Teaching me what stays
What isn’t real
If every breath is a small goodbye
Let me love you honest till the day we die
[Bridge]
I used to think the world was endless
Summer days that wouldn’t fade
Now I count the moles upon your wrist
Like candles on a cake
You say “son
Don’t be afraid now” (mmm)
“I’ve been scared my whole life too”
“Fear just means the heart is working
And mine learned that from you”
[Chorus]
We’re all just sitting here on borrowed time
Passing down stories
Passing down lines
Your hands on mine on that steering wheel
Teaching me what stays
What isn’t real
If every breath is a small goodbye
Let me love you honest till the day we die
[Outro]
So pull your chair up to the table
Take my hand
Just rest awhile
We’ll talk like we were made of August
Till the ticking softens
Mile by mile

folk, Hushed front-porch folk, close-mic’d male vocals in tight two-part harmony. Single fingerpicked acoustic guitar carries the pulse, warm woody tone; soft, breathy cello swells answer vocal phrases and deepen the low end. Verses stay whisper-quiet and conversational, chorus opens slightly with stacked harmonies and a touch more bow pressure on the cello. Subtle creaks, breaths, and fret noise left in the mix to keep everything fragile and human., soulful, acoustic, ballad, raw, cello