(Intro) (A lone, shivering piano melody drifts in through a veil of tape hiss. The upright bass enters like a slow, heavy pulse, spacing each note with deliberate silence. A muted trumpet sighs in the distance, barely audible, like a light bulb flickering in an empty hall.) (Verse) I’m sitting at the table where the wood has gone soft Reading the letters you never quite sent The ink is all running, the words are all blurred Like the ghost of a promise that’s already spent The lamp is a halo of dust and defeat And the floorboards are groaning beneath my own weight I’m cataloging shadows, I’m measuring time By the slow, steady rhythm of accepting my fate. (Chorus) And oh, it’s a long, cold way down to the bottom of the glass Watching the seasons and the reasons all pass You’re a whisper in the hallway, you’re a scent in the room You’re the flower that withered before it could bloom Yeah, love is a bargain that we never could keep And now it’s just the darkness, and the promise of sleep . (Verse) The radiator’s clicking like a clock losing heart And the city outside is a sheet of black ice I’m folding your memory, creasing the edges Paying the balance, no matter the price I thought we were anchored, I thought we were stone But we were just paper, waiting for rain And now I’m just tracing the lines of your name To see if I can find the cure for the pain. (Chorus) And oh, it’s a long, cold way down to the bottom of the glass Watching the seasons and the reasons all pass You’re a whisper in the hallway, you’re a scent in the room You’re the flower that withered before it could bloom Yeah, love is a bargain that we never could keep And now it’s just the darkness, and the promise of sleep . (Bridge) (The saxophone eases in—hollow, breathy, and struggling for air. It weaves a melody that feels like a hand reaching out in the dark, only to find nothing but cold air.) The winter is biting the glass of the window The silence is loud enough to scream I’m waking up slowly from the wreck of us And realizing it was never a dream. (Verse) So I’ll put all these pages back into the box And hide them away where the mice cannot find There’s no sense in dwelling on the ruins of light Or the wreckage we’re leaving, dragging behind I’ll turn off the lamp, let the shadows come home They’re the only ones left who are waiting for me Just another night, and another slow drag Of being exactly who I didn’t want to be. (Chorus) And oh, it’s a long, cold way down to the bottom of the glass Watching the seasons and the reasons all pass You’re a whisper in the hallway, you’re a scent in the room You’re the flower that withered before it could bloom Yeah, love is a bargain that we never could keep And now it’s just the darkness, and the promise of sleep. (Outro) (The piano plays a final, hesitant chord. The bass string is plucked once—soft, resonant, then silenced by a hand. A long, lonely reverb tail hangs in the air until it’s consumed by the sound of rain against the pane.) Just ink... And a damp envelope. Goodbye. Yeah. Goodbye.
