[INTRO — MONO / almost inside the skull] tik… tik-tik… tik… [sequencer attempts to start] da-da—DA— da-da—D— [missing note] … [BREATH] I heard something in the silence… that I couldn't hear— when everything was speaking. [ARP STUTTERS] I-I-I— I think it was… me. [VERSE 1 — dry, intimate] I've been the question. I've been the why. I've been the ground still begging to fly. I've been the shadow arguing with light— both of them screaming that only one's right. But what if neither was asking to win? What if they both were just trying— to get in? [PRE-CHORUS — sequence begins splitting L/R] [LEFT] I remember— [RIGHT — delayed] I imagine— [LEFT] what I was— [RIGHT] what could happen— [CENTER — whispered] What am I… right now? [ALL SOUND CUTS] …listen. [CHORUS — CENTER PULSE ARRIVES] I am the note between the notes, the breath between letting go and holding close. Not just the dark. Not only light. I'm the one who finally heard them both tonight. If I am everything I've tried not to see— maybe the missing piece was never missing… [ARP COMPLETES PHRASE] it was me. [DROP — NO WORDS] DA-da-DA / da—DA— DA-da-DA / da—DA— [LEFT ARP drifts late] [RIGHT ARP rushes early] [CENTER] tik-tik… tik… tik-tik… SUB answers every missing note. WHUM— WHUM— [distorted sax breath becomes percussion] [VERSE 2 — HALF-TIME] We learned to choose before learning to see. Learned what we should and shouldn't believe. Learned "to be" or "not to be"— but nobody mentioned the space in-between. So I fought my reflection. It fought me back. Called one side holy, the other one black. Until the mirror whispered: "Why are you fighting what you needed to become intact?" [PRE-CHORUS — increasingly fragmented] Maybe— m-m-maybe— we— w-w-we— aren't supposed to erase everything that doesn't fit inside the shape we were given. [SILENCE — 2 BEATS] [CHORUS — WIDER] We are the notes between the notes, the hands that tremble but refuse to let go. Every shadow. Every light. Every contradiction asking to be recognized. Maybe peace isn't one side finally beat— maybe peace is when opposites finally— [sequencer stops] …meet. [BRIDGE — HUMAN/MACHINE BREAKDOWN] [SAX KEY CLICK] tik [VIOLIN SCRAPE] krrr— [BREATH] hhh— [each sound becomes part of sequencer] I was listening for an answer… while the answer was listening through me. I was searching for the door… while standing between the keys. I kept asking: Who am I? Who are you? Who are we? [whisper — dead center] What if the answer… isn't one— or two? [FINAL BUILD — 7-NOTE ARP AGAINST 4/4] LEFT: MEMORY RIGHT: POSSIBILITY CENTER: CHOICE Each accelerates independently. Vocal fractures: I— I-I— we— w-we— b-b-be— [everything violently locks together] [FINAL CHORUS — FULL BAND] WE ARE THE NOTE BETWEEN THE NOTES! The impossible space where another world grows! Not only darkness! Not only light! We're the choice that exists when we listen to both sides! Every beginning! Every release! Every opposing voice still begging for peace! And maybe the thing we've been dying to see— was hiding inside what we refused— to— [ALL SOUND CUTS] [one breath] BE. [MISSING NOTE FINALLY PLAYS] DAAAAAAAAAAAAA— [ZERXI SIGNATURE BLOOM] electric violin harmonic screams upward → sax splits into a multiphonic → vocal "we" granulates across stereo → enormous sub bloom → entire sequencer becomes perfectly synchronized [FALSE END] …silence… [ORIGINAL MONO PULSE] tik… [whisper] Now listen. [FINAL MISSING NOTE] da.
