[Verse 1] There was a phone beside the window With a cord running through the wall We waited for somebody to call And answered when it came at all I knew the numbers by their shape I knew the sound of every ring We kept our photographs in boxes And meant the things we used to keep [Pre-Chorus] Then the years began to hurry Without asking where we'd been Doors got smaller, roads got faster People learned to disappear [Chorus] Write my name in pencil Let the paper yellow with time If anybody finds these words Tell them I was here awhile No monument, no warning No picture carved in stone Just leave one empty chair behind For someone who came home [Verse 2] There was a record in the kitchen With a crack beneath the song We knew exactly where it happened And somehow played the whole thing on I wrote a letter every winter Never knowing where it went Some answers took a month to find us Some were never sent [Pre-Chorus] Now the names arrive in seconds Then they're gone before you blink Everybody knows your birthday Nobody asks what you think [Chorus] Write my name in pencil Let the paper yellow with time If anybody finds these words Tell them I was here awhile No monument, no warning No picture carved in stone Just leave one empty chair behind For someone who came home [Bridge – low, almost spoken] I don't hate the new world. I just don't know where to put my hands. There used to be a place for waiting. A place for silence. A place where someone could say, "I'll see you tomorrow." And mean it. [Guitar Solo] (Slow, melodic and vocal-like. Long bends, restrained phrasing. The opening guitar motif returns underneath the solo.) [Final Chorus] Write my name in pencil Don't make the letters last Let the rain erase the edges Let the future have the past If nobody remembers That's not what frightens me I only wanted someone to know There was a man who used to be [Outro – almost spoken] I don't need to be remembered. Just remember... I was here. (One final acoustic guitar chord. Silence.)
