Needle Talk Dark Beat

“This Little Light” — D’Angelo–Style Flow Map

Tempo: ~74–78 BPM

Pocket: Behind the beat (drag your consonants, arrive late)

Delivery rule: Murmur → cry → whisper → hum

Intro (free time, no count)

(breathy, almost talking)

Cold in my blood…

mmm…

but my heart…

still beatin’.

Verse 1 (laid-back, behind the beat)

(stretch vowels, let words fall over bar lines)

Stuck the coooold… hard… malicious… hypothermic needle

(pause)

in my waaaarm… soft… precious veeeins

Let this eeevil… foreign comfort

meeeelt the edge off aaaall this paaaain

(drop voice)

Noddin’ feaars… away…

til my naaame don’t sound the saaaame

Wake up… sellin’ pieces of my sooooul

just to faaace… another daaaay

Pre-Chorus (melodic lift, still lazy)

(falsetto cracks welcome)

I’m breeeathin’…

but I’m baaaarely heeere

mmm…

If there’s meeeercy…

left in heeaaaven

don’t let it paaaass me byyyy

Chorus (stacked, hummed harmonies)

(main vocal soft, background hums “ooh / mm”)

I ain’t tryna get hiiigh… anymore

(drag “high”)

Please ignite this fiiiire… back inside me, Jaaah

Let it buuurn… through the niiight

So this liiittle light of miiiine

can shiiiine… for You once mooore

🎵 Backgrounds:

“mmm—shine… shine…”

“let it glow… let it glow…”

Verse 2 (grittier, closer to spoken word)

(rhythmic mumble → sudden clarity)

Good brooothers… good siiiisters—

liiisten…

This haaabit… don’t play faaair

It creeps iiiin…

makes a hooome outta despaaaair

I went lookin’… for some heeelp

but the laaaughter hit me quiiicker

They haand me poiiison

say “fly away”…

or puuull the bloody triiigger

(drop almost to a whisper)

They don’t see me… on my kneeees

talkin’ deaaath… off the ledge

Pre-Chorus 2 (falsetto, emotional)

(float above the beat)

But there’s a spaaark…

beneath the wreeeckage

still whiiisperin’… my naaame

I ain’t buuuried…

I ain’t fiiiinished

I’m just waaalkin’ through the flaaames

Chorus (bigger, church feel but restrained)

I ain’t tryna get hiiigh… anymore

Please ignite this fiiiire… back inside me, Jaaah

Let it buuurn…

so this liiittle light of miiiine

can shiiiine… for You once mooore

Bridge (classic D’Angelo breakdown)

(no drums, just keys + bass)

On my haaands…

still shaaakin’

On my kneeees…

still praaayin’

Every scaaaar…

still saaayin’

“I survi—iiiived”

(ad-lib hums and cries)

“mm-hmm… yeah…”

Breakdown (rhythmic chant, whispered)

This little liiight on my haaands…

I’m gon’ let it shiiiine

Even fliiick’rinn’…

still aliiive

I’m gon’ let it shiiiine

Final Chorus (full soul release)

(stack 6–8 vocals, some off-time on purpose)

Let it shiiiine…

let it shiiiine…

let it shiiiine…

This liiittle light of miiiine

I’m gon’ let it shiiiine

For the loooost…

for the brooooken

still tryin’ to fiiind…

the liiight

Outro (hummed fade, mic noise left in)

Cold veeeins…

waaarm fiiire…

(soft hums, fade out)