[INTRO — 0:00–0:28 | Instrumental only, no vocals or lyrics. Slow, atmospheric build with a deep pulse and spacious textures.] [VERSE 1 — restrained, intimate vocal] What stays and what goes what we carry far away who knows if this feeling will outlast the day what moves and what stays inside the dream we made and how it slipped away and what was never made [VERSE 2 — gradually building, keep the vocal close] It’s a Christmas hard to bear feels so hollow deep inside every gift you’re given has nothing left inside once you’ve known the abyss you’re never quite the same you hold on just a little tighter to the one who holds the flame [CHORUS 1 — open up emotionally; let the hook ring out] But at the end of all this pain it will rise too bright beneath the sun what remains of us what’s left of us but at the end of all this pain there’s one thing left when all is done what remains of us what’s left of us [INSTRUMENTAL BREATH — 0:20–0:30 | No vocals or lyrics. Let the percussion and atmosphere carry the song; slowly rebuild toward the next verse.] [VERSE 3 — return with a steady, reflective delivery] What stays and what goes what keeps us company that settled in unasked without a guarantee what moves and what stays inside this lottery sometimes you pay too much for sins you’ll never see [VERSE 4 — increase intensity slightly, keep the words clear] It’s a Christmas hard to bear with the lights almost gone on every gift I’m given there’s nothing written on once you’ve known the abyss you’re never quite the same you only learn to carry on however you remain [CHORUS 2 — fuller and more emotional than the first chorus] But at the end of all this pain it will stay forever in the sun what remains of us what’s left of us but at the end of all this pain there’s always one thing we’ll become what remains of us what’s left of us [INSTRUMENTAL BREATH — 0:25–0:35 | No vocals or lyrics. Pull back to the pulse and atmospheric layers, then gradually build toward the final verse.] [VERSE 5 — intimate and emotionally exposed] It’s a Christmas hard to bear when you can’t feel it at all and on every string of lights there’s nothing there to call after the fall into the abyss you’re never quite the same you can only carry forward everything you came to claim [FINAL CHORUS — emotional peak, then let the final phrase linger] But at the end of all this pain there’s always something left to hold onto what remains of us what’s left of us what remains of us… [OUTRO — at least 0:20 | Instrumental only, no vocals or lyrics. Let the final chord, pulse, and atmospheric textures trail away slowly.]
