GOLDEN LINES

[Intro] (Acoustic guitar, fingerpicked, slow) (Piano note enters bar 3, unresolved) (Brush snare ghosted, barely felt)

[Verse 1] (Piano, single notes, bass holds one root)

I kept your sweater — still folded — on the chair Like evidence, like building a case against myself Your handwriting still curling on the page Looks nothing like the person that you became But darling, all that glitters isn't gold I should've known — your beautiful was bought and sold

[Pre-Chorus] (Rhythm tightens, bass drops on the last line)

You had the most perfect delivery For everything you never meant to give

[Chorus] (Full band — bass, kick, hi-hat, strings enter bar 3)

You gave me golden lines Beautiful and hollow every time I would've crossed every bridge, every door Just to hear you say you meant it once more You gave me golden lines Brilliant on the surface, paper-thin Some words shine brightest right before they break Like gold leaf peeling off a window in the rain And darling — I memorized them all

[Verse 2] (Guitar alone, single strums)

You wrote my name in thick permanent ink The kind that bleeds through I should've known — and I did, I think You left a coffee ring on the paperback I never finished I still can't throw it out

[Pre-Chorus] (Same melody, heavier)

I held every line up to the light Told myself the shimmer made it right And I still —

(Bass drops — one beat — voice alone)

I still believed every word you'd write

[Chorus] (Vocal doubled, harmony a third above, bass an octave lower)

You gave me golden lines Beautiful and hollow every time I would've crossed every bridge, every door Just to hear you say you meant it once more You gave me golden lines Brilliant on the surface, paper-thin Some words shine brightest right before they break Like gold leaf peeling off a window in the rain And darling — I memorized them all

[Bridge] (Solo piano, no pedal, voice alone)

Maybe I was the one who needed something to believe in Maybe you were just the hand I chose to read from And those lines —

(Two beats of silence)

God, those lines were gorgeous I'd read them again — if I could

(Cellos enter deep, violins rise slowly)

[Final Chorus] (Key lifts to C Major — full orchestra, no warning)

You gave me golden lines — God, they were golden lines Beautiful and hollow, every single time I would've crossed every bridge, every door Just to hear you say you meant it, just once more You gave me golden lines, brilliant, paper-thin Some words shine brightest right before they break Like gold leaf peeling off a window in the rain And darling — God, darling — I memorized every last one

(Full band cuts on "one")

[Outro] (Guitar returns, same fingerpick, now C Major)

Golden lines…

(Whispered)

Golden lines…

(Unresolved piano chord, held, silence)