[Intro]
[Minimal piano, sparse]
[Verse 1]
[Melancholy, close-mic]
I'm the shadow, not the flame
Running laps in a borrowed game
I reach out, but the prize keeps drifting
Paper heart no one's lifting
[Pre-Chorus]
[Vulnerable]
Fingers brushed—never stayed
A spark too soft to make a blaze
[Chorus]
[Emotional, building]
Always second choice or not at all
Scaling hopes just to fall
Counting hours with an empty face
Uninvited in this race
Always second choice or not at all
[Verse 2]
[Reflective]
I remember being wanted once
Felt like more than just a response
Warmth was there, then it slipped right through
Like it never had roots, like it never was true
[Pre-Chorus]
[Haunting]
Every glance—a fading ghost
Present, but never close
[Chorus]
[Stronger, fuller production]
Always second choice or not at all
Scaling hopes just to fall
Counting hours with an empty face
Uninvited in this race
Always second choice or not at all
[Break]
[Instrumental Interlude]
[Strings enter, building]
[Verse 3]
[Bitter but controlled]
Every time I swear I'm finished
Heartbeat dimmed, devotion thinned
Then there you come—silver tongue, easy grin
Selling hope like a tailored sin
You drink my light like borrowed wine
Take what's warm, leave what's mine
[Voice cracks with emotion]
You build a throne out of what I give
Then seat another where I live
[Bridge]
[Whispered, intimate]
I keep falling for the sweet pretense
The curated charm, the art of offense
[Building intensity]
You hold my heart just long enough
To teach it how to break and trust
[Raw, confessional]
It isn't rage, it isn't grief
It's that hollow space beneath belief
[Resigned wisdom]
I'm the rehearsal for your devotion
A spark you test before explosion
[Pre-Chorus]
[Soft but unbroken]
Brushed aside, but soft—not broken
Living proof of words unspoken
[Final Chorus]
[Belt it out, full emotion]
Always second choice or not at all
Scaling hopes just to fall
Counting hours with an empty face
Uninvited in this race
Always second choice or not at all
[Outro]
[Stripped back to piano]
Here I stand, unseen, complete
An echo that still finds its beat
[Fade, resolute]
Call me second, call me none
Still I burn when they come undone
[End]
Haleyluv3
