[Intro – Fingerpicked acoustic with subtle slide guitar, tape flutter, melancholic] [Verse 1 – quiet, close-mic’d vocal, intimate tone] I remember being whole once, gold in the morning light. You held me close, peeled me slow— so tender, it felt right [pause, breath trembles] But it wasn’t all of me you craved, just the sweetness at my core. You took what you adored… but there was more, oh, there was more... [Pre-Chorus 1 – fingerpicking builds slightly, weary voice] I can still taste the sweetness of what I used to hide inside. The part you wanted—took and swallowed— I’m what’s left, cast aside. [Chorus – ghostly harmony, tape hiss swelling] I’m just a peel, slipping away. Once I held life, now I hold decay. You took my heart, had your day— now I’m just here, slipping away. I'm slipping away... [Verse 2 – fragile delivery, faint hiss and rain ambience] And while I rot beneath the rain, your laughter fills the street. You’ve found another, bright and new, Still hungry, still so sweet. [brief pause] I wonder if you’ll peel them slow, or tear right to the core. Will you take all they can give— and leave them sore, as you did before? [Pre-Chorus 2 – tape warble deepens, consonants fray slightly] The sweetness fades, the yellow... browns, I’m curling inward, turning... down. What once held you now holds air— a shell of something that was... there [Chorus – echo/reverb deeper, harmony more ghostly] I'm just a peel, slipping away. Once I held life, now I hold decay. You took my heart, had your day— now I'm just here, slipping away I'm slipping away... [words trail off into static] [Instrumetal false ending drifting to silence, then swells softly again] [Outro - faint acoustic return, birds in the distance] [almost spoken, fragile but at peace] Then one soft hand… picks me up, lays me down in the garden’s cup I feel the earth begin to breathe— something gentle, underneath Maybe I’ll feed the roots someday, and rise again in my own way [soft exhale] Even peels can find their place— not all that slips away must fade [slide guitar sighs upward, tape hiss swells, then silence]
