[Intro – solo piano, sparse, soft] Am – F – C – G [Verse 1 – hushed, close-mic'd, fragile] Am F I still keep your coat on the kitchen chair, C G Like you might walk back in and need it there, Am F The clock on the wall forgot how to tick, C G And I'm learning to breathe, but I'm doing it quick. [Verse 2] Am F Your name is a room I'm afraid to enter, C G Every photograph a quiet winter, Am F They say time will smooth the edges down, C G But I'm still lost in this empty town. [Pre-Chorus – building, voice trembling] F G And I thought we had forever to spare, Am Em Now I'm talking to a silent chair. [Chorus – full band, raw voice, soaring] C G Now the quiet where you used to be Am F Is louder than the sea, C G And I'd give it all to hear you say my name, F G Just once, just once again. [Verse 3 – stripped back, bitter-tender] Am F I wore the grief like a borrowed suit, C G Learned to smile while I'm falling mute, Am F Everyone says that you're in a better place, C G But I'm still here with your empty space. [Pre-Chorus] F G And I thought we had forever to spare, Am Em Now I'm talking to a silent chair. [Chorus – bigger, voice cracking on the high note] C G Now the quiet where you used to be Am F Is louder than the sea, C G And I'd give it all to hear you say my name, F G Just once, just once again. [Bridge – stripped back, then building] F C/E So I'll light a candle in the hall, Dm G For the one who never heard it all, F C/E Every word I didn't get to say, Dm G Is a prayer I'm learning how to pray. [Final Chorus – maximum intensity, strings swell, voice breaking] C G Now the quiet where you used to be Am F Is louder than the sea, C G But I'll carry you in every breath I take, F G Just once... for goodness' sake. [Outro – solo piano, fading] C – G – Am – F – C (last note rings out... silence)
