[Cold Open - Fingerpicked Guitar, Wurlitzer] [Male Voice - Natural, Conversational] At a time when nothing was left— time went missing too. Didn’t ask for riches. Didn’t plead for peace. Didn’t even know what I’d do with either one. I just wanted my name to sound like mine again. [Soft Groove Enters] [Verse 1 - Loose Reflective Rap] To whom it may be— the one that hovers the ones listening in the ones pretending they ain’t listening— I’m not asking you to bring everything back. Just me. Bring me back. I did it before. Or something close to it. Lost it. Found pieces. Lost the pieces. Here we are. [Wurlitzer Turn] All that’s needed gets me back to square one. And maybe I misunderstood square one. [Refrain - Half-Sung, Easy] Square one isn’t zero. I know that now. Empty hands but I’m standing here somehow. No riches. No rescue. No miracle coming through. Square one isn’t zero when I showed up with me too. [Upright Bass Walk] [Verse 2 - More Rhythmic] Missing. Loathing. Here and now. Rebound hit the floor then bounced back up. Only silence. Good. Talked to myself. Nothing talked back. Better. No echo finishing my sentences. No room full of voices voting on what I meant. Fully ingested. Invested in self. Didn’t have much anybody else wanted. Turns out that made the decision easier. [Beat Pauses] Nobody wants to invest? Fine. I’ll buy the whole company. [Beat Returns] [Refrain] Square one isn’t zero. I know that now. Empty pockets but I’m standing here somehow. No riches. No rescue. No miracle coming through. Square one isn’t zero when I showed up with me too. [Instrumental Break - Fingerpicked Guitar + Wurlitzer] [Verse 3 - Playful Surreal Rap] Recaptured clothes off the back of a chair. Pockets still empty. Beg your pardon. Rapture threatened. Never showed. Sky huffed. Puffed. Couldn’t blow the place down. Ready. Steady. Powered. Showered. Coward? Depends who you ask. Go on and get. [Pause] Haven’t been here yet. That’s new. First steps— lunar dusting. One foot on the moon. Other one on kitchen linoleum. Suffocate. Frozen ice. Teddy-bear smile like everything’s fine. Big stitched grin. Little plastic eyes. Ghost from the past standing behind it telling me— turn now or find your peace. [Groove Drops to Bass and Guitar] [Male Voice] I turned. Nothing there. [Pause] Kept walking. [Refrain - Fuller, Still Casual] Square one isn’t zero. That’s what I missed. Starting again ain’t the same as erased. I’ve got the clothes on my back and whatever this is. Square one isn’t zero. Not anymore. [Bridge - Beat Loosens] Maybe the rest does fall into place. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe “place” was another thing I kept trying too hard to force. So— one thing. Then another. Shower. Clothes. Door. Outside. Breath. Step. Next one. [Soft Guitar Harmonics] Not glamorous. Not cosmic. Unless you count the lunar dust. [Short Laugh in Voice] I do. [Final Refrain] Square one isn’t zero. I know that now. Nothing came back the way I thought it would. Good. No riches. No bargain. No peace handed down. Just enough of myself to start messing around. [Instrumental Groove Continues] [Outro - Spoken] The one it gave me— I wasted some. Probably a lot. [Pause] Didn’t waste all of it. [Wurlitzer Chord] That’s enough. [Fingerpicked Guitar Continues Two Bars] [End]
