THE ONE I NEVER HAD [84 BPM] [Midnight Honky-Tonk feel] [Lazy swing; smoky intimate female vocal] [Twangy acoustic, baritone electric, warm bass, brushed drums, pedal steel, subtle Wurlitzer, sparse harmonica] [Keep the true nature of the relationship hidden until the bridge] [Intro] [Low baritone guitar figure] [Brushes enter] [Pedal steel hangs behind the vocal] [Verse 1] You were young and headed somewhere I was sure I was too You wore duty like a second skin I wore plans I thought I knew Years went by in different directions Still your number stayed the same Funny how a voice can cross a distance And still know exactly where you ache [Instrumental breath] [Baritone guitar answer] [Verse 2] I know the silence when you’re angry Know the laugh you try to hide Know when “I’m fine” means leave it alone And when it means stay on the line You know when my mind starts running Before I ever say a word Somehow you can hear the fear in me In everything you haven’t heard [Chorus] Two decades and I still wonder How somebody stays that long Close enough to know me better Far enough to still be gone I can tell you every reason Timing never played it fair And somehow you became the one Who got away while you were there [Instrumental] [Pedal steel cries] [Short harmonica answer] [Verse 3] There were years I almost quit you Years I swore I’d let it die Then one call would pull the thread again And there you were on the other side We learned new names and different houses Watched whole seasons come and go Still there’s parts of me you recognize Before I even let them show [Pre-Chorus] Maybe that’s why losing you Never looked like leaving Nothing ever slammed shut Still I know what I’ve been grieving [Chorus] Two decades and I still wonder How somebody stays that long Close enough to know me better Far enough to still be gone I can tell you every reason Timing never played it fair And somehow you became the one Who got away while you were there [Instrumental Interlude] [Wurlitzer low and warm] [Drums pull almost completely out] [Bridge — reveal] Here’s the part nobody knows When I say I lost you There was no apartment emptied No last kiss I had to lose You never packed a suitcase Never walked out of my life We never shared a front door Never woke up side by side [Pause] We’re not exes Never were Never even met face to face Never once held hands [Long pause] What got away wasn’t you It was our chance [Instrumental rise] [Pedal steel bends upward] [Brushes build into full lazy groove] [Final Chorus] Two decades and now I know it You were never really gone You’re still close enough to know me When the rest of the world gets me wrong What I lost was all the mornings All the ordinary things The fights, the keys, the kitchen light The life we never got to live So when I call you the one who got away That ain’t exactly what I mean I never lost the man himself [Pause] I lost the life we never got to see [Outro] [Strip to baritone guitar and pedal steel] [Soft] Maybe that’s the strangest kind of missing [Harmonica breath] Still hearing your voice Still knowing your laugh [Pause] And grieving something… We never had. [Pedal steel resolves] [Room ambience] [Short analog fade]
