(Female Lead – Classic Country Ballad, Loretta Lynn / Patsy Cline Style)
Tempo: Slow 6/8 (≈54 bpm)
Key: D♯ Major → modulates to E Major for finale
Style: Classic Nashville Ballad with Gospel Choir
Instrumentation: Piano, steel guitar, fiddle, upright bass, brushes, strings, SATB choir
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🎵 Verse 1
They told me he still called my name,
Down at the tavern just the same,
Said he’d sit there every day,
Drink his whiskey, watch the rain.
He kept my picture by his bed,
Still wore the ring I once had shed,
But I found out in the saddest way—
He stopped loving me today.
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🎵 Chorus (Lead + Soft Choir Harmony)
(Lead only, Choir hums “oohs” softly behind)
He stopped loving me today,
They placed a wreath upon his grave,
And slowly turned and walked away—
He stopped loving me today.
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🎵 Verse 2
She still loved him, that was true,
But she hid it for the pain she put him through,
She never dreamed he loved her still,
After all those years, she thought he never will.
Then she found a letter he never sent,
Tears stained the words, the paper bent,
He said, “I forgive you for all the pain you left,
And I meant it when I said I’d love you to death.”
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🎵 Chorus (Choir Builds Stronger)
(Lead and Choir together, warm harmonies)
He stopped loving me today,
They placed a wreath upon his grave,
And slowly turned and walked away—
He stopped loving me today.
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🎵 Bridge (Soft Piano + Strings)
(Lead only — choir silent, music low)
I thought he’d never set me free,
But the angels came and took the key,
Now I’m the one who’ll live that pain,
’Cause I won’t hear his voice again.
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🎵 Verse 3 (Reflective Verse)
(Lead tenderly, Choir hums gently behind)
I stood there by his stone today,
And whispered all I couldn’t say,
I told him that I loved him too,
Just wish he’d heard it when it’s true.
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🎵 Final Chorus (FULL CHOIR + LEAD – Emotional Peak)
(Key lifts slightly, choir swells)
He stopped loving me today,
They placed a wreath upon his grave,
And slowly turned and walked away—
He stopped loving me today.
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🎙️ Spoken Tag (Soft Piano & Choir Humming)
(Lead speaks gently, tearfully)
He loved me…
Just like he said he would…
Right up to the day he died.
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🎵 Choir Reprise / Outro (Gospel Style – Modulate Up to E Major)
(A cappella start – Soprano lead, Altos join second line, Tenors & Basses add harmony by third line. Instruments fade in gradually.)
🎶 Mmm… He stopped… loving me… today… 🎶
🎶 He stopped… loving me… today… 🎶
🎶 They placed a wreath upon his grave,
And slowly turned and walked away… 🎶
🎶 Though the angels came and took him home,
His love still won’t fade away… 🎶
🎶 He stopped… loving me… today… 🎶
(Hold final “today…” 8 counts — full choir sustain, fade out with steel guitar echo.)
