The Mercy of the Wind

[Intro: A solitary, wheezing harmonium playing a slow, waltz-like melody in 3/4. It is soon joined by the distant, rhythmic thud of a muted sub-bass.] [Verse 1: Stripped back, just the harmonium and acoustic guitar. The vocal delivery is confessional and emotional.] Blown over the balustrade, is what I'll tell the judge, A sudden squall, a tragedy, a terrible, blind nudge. The salt spray stung the stiffened starch of my finest linen collar… My finest linen collar. While down below the engine hummed, drowning out the holler. [Verse 2: The weeping cello enters, adding a layer of melancholy.] She wore a gown of Scheele's Green, a poison dyed in the thread… Oh, Dyed in the thread! She whispered of my sleeping wife, she profaned my marriage bed. I offered her a glass of port, her fingers brushed my wrist, And in that brief, electric touch, the ending did exist. [Instrumental Break: The acoustic guitar becomes frantic, picking up the tempo. The harmonium swells dissonantly.] [Verse 3: The instrumentation pulls back sharply, leaving just the plucked cello playing notes. Vocals are nearly spoken, tense and deliberate.] The promenade was empty, save the moon's judgmental eye, I spoke of love, I spoke of fate, I spun a seductive lie. She leaned against the painted rail to watch the churning wake, A fragile, bird-like silhouette I knew that I must break. (This whole affair a mad mistake) [Verse 4: Full instrumentation returns, swelling rapidly. Vocals strain into the upper register, teetering on collapse.] My hands upon her velvet waist, a waltz she did not know, A pivot and a sudden THRUST into the dark below. No scream to pierce the ocean roar, no splash to mark the deed, Just silence and the engine hum, fulfilling every need. [Instrumental Break 2: A chaotic swirl of harmonium and cello. The rhythm feels off-kilter, mimicking the chaotic water and the violence of the act. It drops out suddenly.] [Verse 5: Bare-voiced and raw, like someone singing into a tape recorder. Just a faint acoustic guitar melody.] Blown over the balustrade, is what I'll tell the judge, The sea is deep and holds its tongue, it harbors not a grudge. I straighten up my ruined cuff, I turn back to the light, And leave all of my mistakes to drown inside the night. Drown inside the night... [Outro: The harmonium slowly fades, leaving only the rhythmic, heartbeat-like sub-bass. The repetition creates a hypnotic effect.] The mercy of the wind. The mercy of the wind The mercy... ah... The mercy…. Or her end.