[Intro — Tribal tom groove, gospel-triplet snare ghost notes, quick-decay splash cymbals, jangling melancholic guitar, flanger, analog delay, deep reverb, treble-heavy, slightly detuned] [Verse 1 — Low smoky mezzo, elastic phrasing across bar lines, sudden upward interval leaps, words stretched unevenly, ornamental melisma at line endings, controlled theatrical vibrato] Emerald leaves surrender to the cold Their green grows tired, their edges fold And summer slips between my fingertips With one last warmth upon its lips The wind comes winding through the trees It catches at my hair, my sleeves October opens like a wound And pulls the year around... around... The calendar turns another page Names disappear, but feelings stay And frost begins its patient climb Along the glass— And into mine. [Pre-Chorus — Ascending melody, elongated vowels interrupted by short emphatic attacks] Winter is crawling underneath Slow as a secret through my teeth The evening reaches through the door And tells me— You don't love me anymore. [Chorus — Faster flowing phrasing, words tumbling continuously over driving drums; strong melodic hook with sharp accents] Beneath the Black October sky Colors fall and seasons fly Days run faster, memories sway Everything we were bleeds into gray Black October, pull me through Every dying shade of you Round and round the seasons pour And you don't love me anymore [Verse 2 — Sinuous melody, conversational entrances becoming increasingly theatrical, occasional breathy scoops into stronger notes] A pale sun trembles overhead Rain gathers where we left the dead I wander where the flowers bend And wonder where beginning ends There’s pleasure hiding inside pain A sweetness underneath the rain I turn my face away from you As though that makes it— Less true. But evening knows what I conceal The body always knows what's real And every branch against the sky Seems to bend— To ask me why. [Pre-Chorus — Lower opening, gradual climb into forceful upper register] Winter is crawling underneath Slow as a secret through my teeth The evening reaches through the door And tells me— You don't love me anymore. [Chorus — Quick, fluid, increasingly urgent] Beneath the Black October sky Colors fall and seasons fly Days run faster, memories sway Everything we were bleeds into gray Black October, pull me through Every dying shade of you Round and round the seasons pour And you don't love me anymore [Post-Chorus — Layered female voices, descending melodic responses] October takes the green away October stains the heavens gray October turns— And so do you. [Bridge — Tempo sinks; close-mic whisper gradually develops into an unstable melodic moan] The air is freezing... My hands don't move. My heart remembers what my mouth refuses to— Don't wake me from this autumn sleep There are some promises we shouldn't keep Let every flower bow its head Let every tender thing— [Long breath] Lie dead. [Guitar Solo — Slow melodic guitar cries over tribal toms; expressive bends, flanger movement, analog-delay trails, rising feedback] [Final Chorus — Faster vocal cadence, first four lines nearly breathless before opening into sustained notes] Beneath the Black October sky Colors fall and seasons fly Days run faster, memories sway Everything we were bleeds into gray Black October, pull me through Every dying shade of you Round and round the seasons pour— [Brief instrumental cut] And you... [Long rising melisma] Don't love me anymore. [Outro — Tribal toms and splashing cymbals beneath detuned jangling guitar] Black October overhead Summer gone and flowers dead One more season one more door... [Low, intimate] And you don't love me anymore. [Guitar rings into long analog-delay trails]
