Brass Knives

[Verse 1]
You polish all your medals
Line them on my shelf
You laugh about our childhood
Like it only hurt myself
You say that I'm dramatic
For counting every bruise
But I see how your eyes shine
Each time I start to lose
[Chorus]
Trumpets for my downfall
Sad brass for your delight
You raise a glass
As you dim my light
Clapping for the car crash
You called it loyalty
It sounds like celebration
When my best friend wants to kill me
[Verse 2]
You toast to my misfortune
With clever little digs
You crown me with my failures
Like a wreath of plastic twigs
You call it "just our humor"
While tightening the string
I choke on all my secrets
You make the choir sing
[Chorus]
Trumpets for my downfall
Sad brass for your delight
You raise a glass
As you dim my light
Clapping for the car crash
You called it loyalty
It sounds like celebration
When my best friend wants to kill me
[Bridge]
You stand there in the spotlight
(are you proud of what you’ve done?)
Giving speeches to the silence
How you’re always still the one
Every cheer cuts like a cymbal
Every smile a sharpened key
If I disappear tomorrow
Would you play in the same key?
[Chorus]
Trumpets for my downfall
Sad brass for your delight
You raise a glass
As you dim my light
Clapping for the car crash
You called it loyalty
It sounds like loyalty
When my best friend wants to kill me

Melancholy chamber-pop with solemn brass fanfare, male vocals. Soft piano and brushed drums under verses; trumpets and trombones swell on the downbeats of each chorus. Sparse strings shadow the melody; bridge drops to near a cappella then blooms into a final, aching horn coda., sad