The Life We Named

(Verse 1 — Him (Dispatch Supervisor))

I hear sirens more than songs these days
Coffee cold, radios humming
I learned how to stay calm in other people’s storms
Funny how that came from loving you first

I’ve got a ring, a house, a name they call me now
Kids who think I know what I’m doing
I help the public like we said we would
Just… not in the way we pictured then

⸻

(Verse 2 — Her (Doctor))

I sign charts with a steady hand
Learned to breathe through other people’s fear
There are nights I come home bone-tired
But I still believe I’m where I’m meant to be

I’ve got a partner who knows my tells
Children who ask why I work so late
I help the hurting like we always said
Just not with you beside me

⸻

(Pre-Chorus — Alternating Lines)

Him:

We talked about this kind of life
Her:
In borrowed time and dorm room light
Him:
We named the days before they came
Her:
And somehow still, they found their way

⸻

(Chorus — Together (Soft, Almost Spoken))

We’re living the life we named back then
Just standing in different frames
Same kind of work, same kind of love
Different last names

There’s a quiet grief for the road we shared
That didn’t make it all the way through
But I don’t mourn what never was
I honor what was true

⸻

(Verse 3 — Him)

Sometimes I catch your name on a chart
Or hear it paged down the hall
It doesn’t knock the wind out of me
It just slows me down, that’s all

I wonder if you ever hear my voice
When the radios crack at night
And think about a younger version of us
Who thought love could outrun time

⸻

(Verse 4 — Her)

Sometimes I drive past a hospital wing
And remember the plans we made
The kids we named, the years we stacked
Like they’d never drift away

I don’t miss you like a wound anymore
It’s more like weather I recognize
A season I don’t live in now
But I know why I survived

⸻

(Bridge — The Moment of Truth (No Music First Half))

Him:

I don’t want you back
Her:
I don’t wish I’d stayed
Him:
But I still see the shape of us
Her:
In the good we give away

(music returns, soft harmony)

⸻

(Final Chorus — Together (Full Acceptance))

We’re living the life we named back then
And somehow we got it right
We just didn’t end up in the same room
On the same night

There’s a sadness that doesn’t need fixing
Just a place to quietly be
Some loves don’t last forever
They last long enough to teach

⸻

(Outro — Spoken, Shared)

Her:

I’m glad you’re happy.
Him:
I always hoped you would be.
Together (soft):
We did good… just separately.

dark alt-folk / restrained country, •	Verse trading (never overlap at first) c major, 70 bpm, male/female duet