Someone Else Is Crying

[Immediate djent-rock groove — low syncopated guitar riff with warm melodic bass; punchy drums weave around the accents; clean guitar plays a small aching melody through the spaces] Somebody's crying somewhere behind me. Thin little sound like it's trying to find me. Somebody's breaking. Somebody's gone. Whoever it is, they've been at it too long. [RIFF — same groove continues, bass briefly takes the melody] I turn to the left. Nothing there. Turn to the right. Same empty air. There it is. Again. That sound. That ache. Like somebody learned how a person can break. [Instrumental passage — interlocking djent guitar and bass; melodic lead guitar quietly repeats the vocal contour] Would somebody tell them I'm trying to think? Every time they get quiet, I get to the brink of almost remembering what I came here to do— then somebody's crying. I wish I knew who. [Music opens into a broad melodic djent-rock passage without becoming heavier] Somebody's crying. Somebody's low. Somebody's hurting and won't let it show. Somebody's calling with nothing to say. Somebody's falling and won't fall away. [Short instrumental — drums shift the pulse underneath the same riff; clean lead remains lyrical] It's getting annoying. Is that cruel? Maybe it is. Maybe I'm a fool. But grief has a language I don't want to learn. Let somebody else take somebody's turn. [The groove becomes increasingly off-balance; vocal remains restrained] There. Again. Closer this time. Something is shaking. Maybe it's mine. No— I'm doing fine. I'm doing fine. [Instrumental — guitar repeats “I'm doing fine” rhythm while bass plays against it] Somebody's crying. God, make it stop. Every little breath has a hitch and a drop. Every little sound has a familiar hue. Why does somebody crying sound so much like— [Music drops to bass, clean guitar and a soft kick pulse] you? [Pause] No. Not you. [Full djent-rock groove returns, melodic rather than brutal] Somebody's crying. Somebody's me. I don't know how I forgot how to see. I don't know when I started this sound. I only know nobody else is around. [Instrumental — long melodic guitar solo over the established syncopated groove; no dramatic genre change] I wipe my face. My hand comes away. I stare at the proof. Got nothing to say. [Quiet, cracked delivery while full groove continues underneath] Somebody's crying. Let him cry. Don't ask him where. Don't ask him why. Don't make him name what he can't make true. Just sit here and listen. [Brief pause] I'm listening too. [Extended instrumental — main djent riff and aching lead melody intertwine; drums gradually simplify rather than intensify] [Final vocal, almost absent-minded] Somebody's crying somewhere behind me. Thin little sound like it's trying to find me. [The riff continues instrumentally; no final vocal resolution]