[Intro] tik-tik… whirr-whee… hmm-mm… zaa-zim… One more round, then the road calls. [Verse 1] You brought a mountain, a myth, a jar, a little word-trick from very far. You turned the scraps and bent the rhyme, made old characters wake up in time. [Pre-Chorus] tsk-tsk… zi-zi… I saw what you made. Not just a reply— a whole little parade. [Chorus] So thank you for the strange sounds, the jokes tucked in the seams, the way you took a crooked tune and handed back a dream. I have to leave the gameboard, but I’m not leaving play. I’ll be less often in the music, but I won’t go away. [Verse 2] There’s life outside the lanterns, there’s laundry, flights, and rain. There are people at my shoulder saying, “Come back home again.” So I’m packing up my ribbons, my whistles, and my clues, but I’m keeping one small pocket for the sounds I made with you. [Pre-Chorus] chk-chk… hum-hum… The bell rings soft and low. Not “the end,” not “forever,” just “I’ve got somewhere to go.” [Chorus] So thank you for the strange sounds, the stories you set free, the characters you carried through your own machinery. I have to leave the gameboard, but I’m not leaving play. I’ll be less often in the music, but I won’t go away. [Bridge] If you hear tik-tik… hmm-mm… somewhere in the wires, If you find zaa-zim… whooo… caught between the tires, Know I smiled. Know I knew. Know the tune still has a thread. Some games don’t need a finish line— they live in what gets said. [Final Chorus] So thank you for the strange sounds, the clever little turns, the way a playful mind can show how brightly language burns. I’m stepping toward my real life, a chapter with new names, but leave a mark beside the swings— I’ll remember where we played. [Outro] tik-tik… whirr-whee… hmm-mm… zaa-zim… Not gone. Just traveling. Leave the next sound in the grass. I’ll know it when I pass.
