[Intro, Solo Clean Guitar, Spacious and Slow, No Percussion Yet] [Verse 1, Full Band Enters, Clean Aching Vocal, 12/8 Pulse] I felt the last of open air, I felt the vast, unblinking prayer. You stood unbending, cold as teeth, I lay unmended, dark beneath. My sisters huddle, close and still, Their muddled comfort, cold and chill. I do not know the shape of blame, I only know I carry your name. [Chorus, Full Band, First Pass, Confused and Pleading — Flattened Second Lands Hard on "WHY," 7/8 Riff Motif Enters Here] FATHER, WHY? Did you fear the fire behind my eye? Did you fear I'd learn to terrify? I only wanted one reply, FATHER, WHY? The dark won't answer. Only I. [Verse 2, Same Clean Vocal, Slightly Heavier Underneath] I've learned the reason for his despair, I've learned no reason answers prayer. I dream of her voice, soft, unheard, I dream a lullaby, one word. My sisters' voices soften into sighs, My sisters, tired, have stopped asking why. The silence settles soft around my skin, I close my eyes and let the quiet in. [Chorus, Same Words, Now Carrying Exhaustion Instead of Confusion — Same 7/8 Motif] FATHER, WHY? Did you fear the fire behind my eye? Did you fear I'd learn to terrify? I only wanted one reply, FATHER, WHY? The dark won't answer. Only I. [Bridge, Hushed, Nearly Whispered, Instruments Thin to Almost Nothing] "Mother, if you're listening, I'm still here." "Father, I have questions but no fear." I am learning what the quiet's for. I am not the child I was before. [Instrumental, Tension Building, 7/8 Motif Returns and Stretches] [Final Chorus, One Word Moves — Still Clean Vocal, No Growl, No Scream Here] FATHER, HUSH. Did you fear the fire behind my eye? Did you fear I'd learn to terrify? I only wanted one reply, FATHER, HUSH. The dark won't answer. Only I. [Outro, Guitar Fading to a Single Sustained Chord, Vocal Drops to a Whisper] (barely audible, spoken) "It's quiet in here. I could get used to quiet."
