[Cast: V1 Inara Ras] [V1: intimate female lead, natural pitch, speech-shaped rhythm, warm dry vocal, restrained vibrato, quietly determined] [Tempo: 102 BPM] [Meter: 4/4] [Key: G major, E minor shadows] [Intro: eight bars, kantele pulse, felt piano, quiet room] [Soft cloth movement, no sound effect emphasis] [Mandola enters] [Verse 1: V1, close] Your coat stayed on the hallway hook through winter into spring. I brushed the dust from both the sleeves but never wore the thing. The lining smelled of cedarwood, old rain and something warm. One cuff was frayed from years of hands pulled deep against a storm. I kept it like a photograph that happened to have weight. As if one mark I added would arrive a year too late. [Pre Chorus: V1, bass enters] Then yesterday the left sleeve caught and opened at the seam. I stood there holding thread and cloth like waking from a dream. [Chorus: V1, brushes and frame drum enter] Mend the sleeve. Wear the coat. Let the weather find it. Stitch it strong. Leave it seen. Don't pretend time didn't touch it. What was loved was never meant to disappear behind a door. Mend the sleeve. Wear the coat. Let it live a little more. [Instrumental: eight bars, kantele and mandola interlock] [Cello joins low] [V1: soft vocalise] Mm... Ah... Mm... [Verse 2: V1, warmer, walking pulse] I couldn't find the matching thread. I chose a darker blue. The button tin had nothing right, so one is different too. My stitches lean a little left. You'd laugh at every one. You always fixed things properly. I only got it done. I pulled it on. The shoulders fell a little wide on me. I rolled the cuffs, then caught myself still asking permission silently. [Pre Chorus: V1, piano pulse rises] There wasn't any answer. So I fastened every clasp, opened the door, and let the cold come rushing through at last. [Chorus: V1, fuller but restrained] Mend the sleeve. Wear the coat. Let the weather find it. Stitch it strong. Leave it seen. Don't pretend time didn't touch it. What was loved was never meant to disappear behind a door. Mend the sleeve. Wear the coat. Let it live a little more. [Instrumental Walk: eight bars, melodic bass lead, frame drum, nyckelharpa answers] [Outdoor air enters softly] [Bridge: V1, close, bass and kantele only] By the corner shop the snow begins. I put my hands where yours had been. Not yours now. Mine. That's strange to say. The cloth grows warm along the way. [Pause: one bar] [V1] I thought keeping meant protecting. Maybe keeping means to use. [Build: four bars, drums return] [Final Chorus: V1, open warm voice] Mend the sleeve. Wear the coat. Let the weather know it. Add your years. Add your scars. Give the old cloth somewhere to go. What we carry changes shape each time we carry it some more. Mend the sleeve. Wear the coat. Walk out through the door. [Post Chorus: V1, soft doubles] Mm... Wear the coat. Mm... [Outro: piano, kantele, bass] [V1: close] Blue thread on the left sleeve. One wrong button. Warm enough. [End: final plucked chord, footsteps continue briefly, natural stop]
