[Intro: clean guitar, distant feedback, slow drum pulse]
I still remember the smell of smoke.
The way the summer died.
⸻
[Verse 1: heavy clean guitar, emotional vocals]
The parking lot behind the church
Where we carved our names in stone
Swearing we’d outrun this town
Swearing we’d never grow old
Your cigarette burned like a signal flare
Against the midnight sky
You laughed and said we’d make it out
Funny how time can lie
⸻
[Pre-Chorus: guitars building]
Now every street feels smaller
Every memory feels larger
⸻
[Chorus: huge melodic hook, heavy guitars]
We’re just ashes of August
Blowing through the wind
Trying to find the people
We used to be back then
The world kept turning
But something stayed behind
We’re just ashes of August
Still burning in my mind
⸻
[Verse 2: driving riff]
The old gas station’s boarded up
The football field’s overgrown
The kids we thought we’d always know
Have families of their own
And sometimes late at night
When the radio plays that song
I swear I hear your voice again
Like you were here all along
⸻
[Pre-Chorus]
Some ghosts don’t haunt you
They keep you alive
⸻
[Chorus]
We’re just ashes of August
Scattered through the years
Carrying old laughter
And unfinished fears
The photographs are fading
But the feeling never dies
We’re just ashes of August
Floating through our lives
⸻
[Breakdown: crushing guitars, emotional screams]
WHERE DID IT GO?
WHERE DID WE GO?
THE DREAMS WE SWORE
WE’D NEVER LET GO
I STILL SEE YOUR FACE
IN THE REARVIEW LIGHT
SOME MEMORIES
NEVER SAY GOODBYE
⸻
[Bridge: stripped-down guitar and bass]
Maybe growing up
Is learning how to lose things
Without losing yourself
⸻
[Final Chorus: biggest emotional payoff]
We’re just ashes of August
But the fire still remains
In every scar we carry
In every drop of rain
And though the years have taken
Almost everything in sight
A piece of us keeps burning
Against the night
⸻
[Outro: lone guitar]
I still remember the smoke.
I still remember you.
CathedralsInRuin
