Empty Chair at the Table

[Verse 1]
Coffee cup
on the counter
Your old boots
by the door
I still set a place
at the table
Like you’ll walk in
like before
You worked them hands
down to nothing
Just to keep
our heads above
Every scar on your knuckles
Was a story
about your love
[Chorus]
There’s an empty chair
at the table
Where your laughter
used to live
I reach for you
in the silence
And there’s nothing
left to give
I’m lonely and I’m wandering
through the pieces
of your name
Broken heart, broken son
trying to stand up
in your frame
[Verse 2]
You taught me
how to keep going
When the world
felt like a fight
Now I’m walking
through the shadows
Looking for your
little light
I can hear you
in my memory
Saying “Boy,
you’ll be alright”
But I’m talking
to the ceiling
Till the morning
kills the night
[Chorus]
There’s an empty chair
at the table
Where your laughter
used to live
I reach for you
in the silence
And there’s nothing
left to give
I’m lonely and I’m wandering
through the pieces
of your name
Broken heart, broken son
trying to stand up
in your frame
[Bridge]
One day I’ll tell
my own children
How you carried
all our storms
How a tired man
with tired eyes
Wrapped a house
in something warm
[Chorus]
There’s an empty chair
at the table
But your love
is in my hands
Every step
that I am taking
Tries to walk
the way you planned
I’m lonely but I’m holding
to the lessons
that you gave
Broken heart,
but your love
is the road
that you paved

country, Warm, intimate country ballad with male vocals, gentle picked acoustic guitar and soft upright bass; verses stay hushed and conversational, chorus swells with subtle pedal steel and light piano fills, brushes on snare easing in by the second chorus to lift the emotion while keeping it tender and reflective