SOMETHING STAYED [INTRO — 12 bars, no vocals] [afterglow groove already in motion; broken pulse, warm sub, muted Rhodes fragments, small crystalline ticks] [a two-chord figure circles toward resolution but quietly turns away each time] [close lead vocal enters inside the groove] after the rush after the wave nothing wanted more something stayed [HOOK — melody rises toward a release that never fully arrives] nothing left to make something stayed nothing left to name something stayed [responder voice appears only on the final word: stayed] [short instrumental — groove continues; harmony almost opens, then settles back into suspension] [VERSE — sparse, intimate] screen went dim room went late you did not answer I did not ask the words went still the signal held nothing began nothing fell [HOOK — same lyric, altered phrasing; bass answers, responder nearly enters] nothing left to make something stayed nothing left to name something stayed [LONG INSTRUMENTAL — 16 bars] [lead motif passes between Rhodes, processed voice fragment, and crystalline synth] [each layer appears to invite a climax, then withdraws] [the groove remains warm and intact] [BRIDGE — percussion thins, vocal nearly dry] for once language had no work left to do [responder breathes an indistinct fragment, but does not complete the thought] [FINAL HOOK — quieter rather than larger] nothing wanted more something stayed nothing left to make something stayed [the final word repeats at widening distances: stayed … stayed …] [OUTRO — groove fragments but does not resolve] after the rush after the wave [Rhodes figure circles once more] something stayed
