Crossroads

[Intro - 8 bars: Single clean guitar, reverb-heavy]

[Verse 1 - Whispered/intimate, minimal drums]
I find myself at a crossroads An something wants in
Voices telling me who I amAnd places I been
My chest feels tense and my ears ring
What it’s wants from me Is my everything

[Verse 2 - Build slightly, add bass]
I don’t know just what it is
Can’t tell a hungry wolf from my kin
The stars glimmer their words but not bright
Whispering melodies between the day and night

[Pre-Chorus - Tension building, drums intensify]
I never saw…(I never saw)

[Chorus - Full band, raw power]
I never saw the armies gatherOr the gate bolt clad
But something tells me I seeAll the wrongs I had
Never thought it was somethingI needed to know
And what I see is, how big it isAnd how far it can go

[Instrumental Break - 4 bars: Slide guitar]

[Verse 3 - Pull back to intimate]
The mirror shows a stranger’s faceFootprints leading to a darker place
Truth comes crawling like a thief at dawn
Taking everything I thought I’d knownAnd gone

[Verse 4 - Slight build]
There’s a reckoning calling out my nameCan’t outrun it
Can’t douse the flameThe weight of all these years
Pressing downSilent battlesIn this ghost of a town

[Bridge - Stripped to bare bones: voice and single guitar]
(spoken/half-sung)And I’m standing hereBetween what wasAnd what will be
(long pause - 2 beats)
The crossroads…Got a hold on me

[Final Chorus - Most powerful, add harmonies on repeats]
I never saw the armies gatherOr the gate bolt clad
But something tells me I seeAll the wrongs I had
Never thought it was somethingI needed to know
And what I see is, how big it isAnd how far it can go

(Repeat last two lines with increasing intensity)Just how big it isAnd how far it can go
How far it can go…(held, raw)
How far it can go…(breaking)

[Outro - 8 bars: Return to opening guitar figure, fade to silence]

GraveledVocals, RawEmotive,SlowBurn,ConversationalDelivery, SouthernGothic, StoicIntensity