Before Her

[Verse 1]
You used to fall asleep on my chest
Half-finished movies on the TV glow
Laughing at nothing
Just us in that bed
Back when you only had one home
Now you’re checking your phone in my kitchen
Smiling small
Trying not to show
I can feel her name in the silence
Like perfume on your clothes
[Chorus]
I remember how it was before her
When I never had to ask where your love goes
Now I’m standing in the dark of your corner
Sharing pieces of a heart I gave you whole
I want you to choose
Want you to choose
But I’m scared of what I already know
Yeah
I remember how it was before her
Before you let my heart run cold
[Verse 2]
You say “baby
It’s not what you’re thinking”
But your hands don’t hold me the same
You touch me soft like I’m something fragile
Like you’re guilty just for saying my name
I keep staring at our old pictures
Me and you
Nothing in between
Now every memory’s got her shadow
Standing right where I used to be
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
[low vocal register] I’m tired of three a.m. crying
Staring at the door
Still hoping you’ll change
[build] If I’m the one you’re really wanting
Why I feel like the one in the way?
I can’t keep splitting my soul like this
Half for your promise
Half for your sin
If I’m not enough on my own
Baby
Then you’re not the one I’m choosing
[Chorus]

Slow-burning R&B ballad with female vocals; warm Rhodes, sparse drums, and deep bass. Verses stay intimate and conversational, close-mic’d with soft ad-libs; chorus swells with stacked harmonies and a simple, sticky hook. Subtle guitar licks answer the vocal lines, with a late-bridge modulation and a long, emotional vocal run into the final chorus.