Verse 1
We were silver-plated trophies on a shelf in July,
With the kind of arrogance that only the young can buy.
You were a "to be continued" in a library of dust,
I was a lock that hadn't met a single speck of rust.
We drove with no headlights through the tunnels of the town,
Sure that the ceiling was never coming down.
We thought the clock was a toy we could wind back for fun,
Standing tall in a valley that had never seen a sun.
Chorus
But the shadows come to collect on the glow,
Returning the seeds that we didn't mean to sow.
It’s a long-distance trade, it’s a closing of the door,
Giving back the warmth to the stones on the floor.
I loved you in the morning when the bill was still far,
Now I’m counting the ghosts from the back of the car.
It’s a heavy kind of holy, it’s a quiet kind of blue,
Paying for the years when the world was just you.
(Harmonica Riff - A shivering, trembling melody that mimics a cold wind)
Verse 2
Now the ink is just a bruise on the back of my hand,
And I’m reading the maps of a disappearing land.
The kitchen tiles are colder than they were in ninety-four,
And I don't hear your boots clicking "home" across the floor.
When the skin gets thin, the memory gets thick,
Like a slow-burning flame on a very short wick.
We weren't the owners, we were just the passing ghosts,
Drinking the wine and then thanking the hosts.
Bridge
(Cello builds a frantic, staccato rhythm—harmonica gets loud and piercing)
I’d write a check for the way your laughter sounded at the start,
Before the slow-motion erosion of the heart.
But the sky doesn't take currency, it only takes time,
And I’m standing at the summit I no longer have to climb.
I’m settling the balance, I’m clearing the slate,
Leaving all my darlings at the garden gate.
Chorus
Yeah, the shadows come to collect on the glow,
Returning the seeds that we didn't mean to sow.
It’s a long-distance trade, it’s a closing of the door,
Giving back the warmth to the stones on the floor.
I loved you in the morning when the bill was still far,
Now I’m counting the ghosts from the back of the car.
It’s a heavy kind of holy, it’s a quiet kind of blue,
Paying for the years when the world was just you.
Outro
I’m closing the tab...
The "once-upon-a-times" and the "never-agains."
I’m closing the tab...
Leaving the joy where the sorrow begins.
The world was just you.
The world was just you.
