[Intro | clean guitar | exposed melodic bass] [Clean guitar states D-F-E-C-A motif] [Bass repeats it with one altered note] [Verse 1 | alternating growl and tenor] [Guttural] You tell me about a summer I cannot bring to mind. [Clean] You remember where we parked, the motel curtains, Room 109. [Guttural] Apparently I laughed for hours. Apparently I hated the drive. [Clean] You have a version of me I cannot find from inside. [Pre-Chorus | tenor | bass moving independently] You say, "You were there." I believe you. But believing isn't remembering. [Chorus I | full band | sustained tenor] How much can change before someone is gone? If I lose what I remember, what exactly carries on? You still know how to find me. You still answer when I call. How much can change before the name no longer fits at all? [Post-Chorus | full motif | distorted guitars] [Verse 2 | guttural lead | clean guitar underneath] [Guttural] At twenty I picked every fight. At thirty I learned to leave. I once mistook being difficult for something people had to respect. [Clean] The friends who knew that person wouldn't know the way I speak. Some would call it getting better. Some would say they lost part of me. [Guttural] If character can turn this far, which version owns the name? [Clean] The one who made the promise— or the one who wouldn't make it today? [Chorus II | tenor | rhythm guitars removed | bass more exposed] How much can change before someone is gone? If the person making promises would take every promise back, you still know how to find me. You still recognize my face. How much can change before continuity becomes a claim? [Interlude | clean guitar and bass | motif missing final note] [Verse 3 | growl-tenor exchange | sparse drums] [Guttural] There is a photograph at nineteen. [Clean] That body isn't here. [Guttural] Different weight. Different cells. Different lines beside the eyes. [Clean] A surgeon leaves a narrow mark. A tooth comes out. The hair turns white. [Guttural] Piece by piece, the inventory changes. [Clean] Still nobody announces my departure. [Guttural] So which part was required? [Clean] Which loss would be too much? [Silence: 1s] [Guttural] Point to it. [Chorus III | tenor | no distorted guitars | clean guitar, bass, sparse drums] How much can change before someone is gone? Not the body I began with. Not the thoughts I once held on to. You still know how to find me— but you're using older maps. How much can change before the path no longer leads me back? [Instrumental | clean guitar and exposed bass] [Variation: D-F-E-C-A motif reduced to D-F-E-C] [Counterpoint: bass preserves missing A in another register] [Verse 4 | exposed alternating vocals | minimal percussion] [Clean] My sister says, "You always do that." [Guttural] I don't know what she means. [Clean] She waits before explaining. [Guttural] Then I recognize the scene. [Clean] Not as memory— as pattern. A gesture I apparently keep. [Guttural] Something can remain in me without belonging to what I think. [Clean] Maybe continuity isn't hidden in a chamber underneath. Maybe no single thing survives. Maybe enough things overlap. [Silence: 2s] [Final Chorus | tenor | clean guitar and exposed bass only] How much can change before someone is gone? If no piece stays forever, what has traveled all this way? You still know how to find me. [Silence: 1s] But someday you may not. And if I look back at myself and find a stranger there— [Clean guitar drops out] [Bass alone] was there one moment when I left? [Final Movement | bass and alternating voices] [Guttural] The memory? [Clean] Changed. [Guttural] The body? [Clean] Changed. [Guttural] The temper? [Clean] Changed. [Guttural] The convictions? [Clean] Changed. [Guttural] The name? [Clean] Still here. [Silence: 2s] [Guttural] Is that enough? [Coda | single clean guitar] [Fragmentation: D-F-E-C-A motif] D— F— E— [Silence: 1s] [Clean tenor] You recognize the melody. [Clean guitar repeats altered motif] D— F— C— [Clean tenor] But it isn't the one you met. [Final guitar note withheld] [End]
