[Intro – soft guitar, wind through leaves] [Male – whispered, intimate] We walked the same old path, Where the river bends slow. Leaves turned gold beneath our feet, But neither of us spoke. [Verse 1 – Male, low baritone, restrained regret] I saw you watching the river that day, Had a thousand things I couldn't say. I looked away, afraid you'd know, And buried the feeling, let it go. [Verse 2 – Female, smoky alto, vulnerable] You think I never noticed you? I watched each little thing you'd do. I thought you were kind, but couldn't tell If I was someone you knew too well. [Pre-Chorus – alternating, soft piano] [Male – hesitant quietly asking] I thought your silence meant goodbye. [Female – soft, quietly hurt] I thought you never wondered why… [Male - after a brief pause] I waited for you to turn around [Female - almost whispering] I waited for you to make a sound [Chorus – duet, tender, restrained] [Male] I liked you in the hush between the raindrops. [Female] I liked you in the space the thunder forgot. [Both – soft harmony] We stood in the same meadow, beneath the same sky, Both waiting for words that never arrived. We loved in silence, afraid to let it show, Now we're strangers to the years we let go. [Verse 3 – Male, more open, wistful] I wanted to ask you to walk with me, But tomorrow came, as it always would be. I told myself there would always be time, Another spring morning, another sign. [Verse 4 – Female, tender sadness] I wore your coat long after you'd gone, And wondered what I'd done wrong. I feared your answer, feared you'd refuse, So I said nothing, with everything to lose. [Pre-Chorus – alternating, instruments falling quiet] [Female – fragile] If I'd told you then, would you have stayed? [Male – sincere, almost breaking] If you'd told me then, I think I might have. [Female – soft, aching] Then why did we let all those years slip away? [Male – whispered] I wish I knew how to answer that. [Instrumental Break – fingerpicked guitar, Mellotron, distant thunder, soft wordless harmonies] [Bridge – intimate, gradually intertwining] [Male] I thought I was sparing you sorrow. [Female] I thought you'd be gone by tomorrow. [Male] All the words I never let through... [Female] All the dreams I dreamed about you... [Both – almost spoken] We were so young, And so afraid. We lost the words, And the seasons changed. [Final Chorus – duet, gentle heartbeat drums, fuller strings, clear forward vocals] [Male] I liked you in the hush between the raindrops. [Female] I liked you in the space the thunder forgot. [Male] I waited for you to turn around. [Female] I waited for you to make a sound. [Both – emotional, soft harmony] We stood in the same meadow, beneath the same sky, Two hearts in the silence, watching time pass us by. We loved in silence, afraid to let it show, Now we're strangers to the years we let go. [Outro – guitar alone, wind through bare branches] [Female – whispered] Your name still feels like springtime. [Male – soft, distant] Though winter took its place. [Female] I see you in the branches. [Male] But I can never see your face. [Both – fading to silence] We were there... We were there... And we never knew. [Instrumental ending] [Soft guitar harmonics, fading wind, lingering tremolo] [Leave several seconds of silence at the end]
