[All brackets are production cues only; do not sing] [Close-mic British female vocal] [Studio recording; lyric clarity first] [No vocal filler] [Short intro; voice enters quickly] [Begin intimate and physical, not cosmic] [Let connection emerge gradually] [Important lines breathe] [Intro] [Warm pulse; close vocal] Take a breath. [brief pause] The story is already here. [Verse 1] [Sparse Rhodes; organic low rhythm] Hydrogen within us From an early universe Carbon formed in ancient stars Before there was an Earth Oxygen carried forward Through generations gone Matter changing, travelling And somehow Carrying on. [Pre-Chorus] [Small harmonic opening] I kept looking to the heavens As though they were somewhere else [brief subtraction] Then found part of their history Written here Inside ourselves. [Chorus] [Warm groove opens] THE ELEMENTS BETWEEN US Older than our names THE ELEMENTS BETWEEN US Travelling here through change Different lives Different bodies Underneath a different sun [brief breath] Yet some of what is holding me Is holding everyone. [Verse 2] [Rhythm becomes more tactile] Calcium within our bones Carbon through our cells Oxygen moving with each breath A history we cannot tell Not one star made all of this No single cosmic flame Generation after generation Matter changed And came again. [Pre-Chorus 2] [Pull rhythm back] Maybe distance fooled me Made the universe seem far [brief silence] But some of what became this body Was once inside A star. [Chorus] [Fuller harmony; maintain intimacy] THE ELEMENTS BETWEEN US Older than our names THE ELEMENTS BETWEEN US Travelling here through change Different lives Different bodies Every one uniquely formed And still the ancient elements Keep travelling on. [Bridge] [Beat disappears] [Voice very close] I don't need to call it magic. [brief breath] The truth is strange enough. [long pause] The universe made elements [brief silence] And elements Made us. [Hold silence before music responds] [Instrumental Rise] [Rhythm returns warmer and more alive] [Final Chorus] [Strongest emotional movement; communal without anthem] THE ELEMENTS BETWEEN US Older than memory THE ELEMENTS BETWEEN US Moving through you and me Different colours Different stories Different ways of being here [brief subtraction] But the universe we're looking at Is closer Than it appears. [Final Refrain] [Strip towards intimate vocal] We looked up [breath] So very far [long breath] And found the ancient universe Inside What we are. [Outro] [Warm pulse remains] Take a breath. [brief pause] Some of the story Is breathing with you. [No further vocal] [Fade naturally]
