[INTRO — CLEAN FINGERPICKED ELECTRIC GUITAR, LOW CELLO, ROOM AMBIENCE] [MALE LEAD ONLY — LOW, CLOSE, WEATHERED] For a while I thought love meant drawing the circle smaller. You. Me. Nothing outside it. [PAUSE] Sounded devoted. Until the circle became a wall. [VERSE 1 — MALE LEAD ONLY] I stopped calling friends. Stopped taking roads you didn't want. Put old dreams on a quiet shelf and told myself: This is what commitment does. But love shouldn't need an empty room to prove it's important. You can be the person I come home to without becoming the only place I ever go. [PRE-CHORUS — MALE LEAD ONLY] If everything else has to disappear for us to survive— maybe we're asking love to carry too much. [CHORUS — MALE LEAD + LOW MALE HARMONIES] OTHER THINGS MATTER TOO! AND THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU LESS! FRIENDS STILL MATTER! WORK STILL MATTERS! THE LIFE I HAD BEFORE WE MET! OTHER THINGS MATTER TOO! AND SO DO YOU! LOVE DOESN'T GET MORE REAL BY MAKING EVERYTHING ELSE UNTRUE! [GUITAR TURN] [VERSE 2 — MALE LEAD ONLY] There are nights I need silence. Days you need your own people. There are promises that don't belong to us. A parent calls. A friend is hurting. A dream still waits with dust on it. I don't want to resent the world for asking me to remain part of it. [PAUSE] And I don't want you to disappear inside me either. [CHORUS — MALE LEAD + MALE HARMONIES] OTHER THINGS MATTER TOO! KEEP THE CIRCLE WIDE! LOVE ME CLOSE— BUT DON'T ASK ME TO LEAVE THE REST OUTSIDE! OTHER THINGS MATTER TOO! KEEP YOUR PEOPLE NEAR! IF WHAT WE HAVE IS STRONG, IT DOESN'T NEED THE WORLD TO DISAPPEAR! [INSTRUMENTAL — LONG MELODIC GUITAR SOLO, STRINGS RISING, NO VOCALS] [VERSE 3 — MALE LEAD ONLY] Maybe intimacy isn't two people vanishing into each other. Maybe it's two lives still recognizable after they join. Your name stays yours. Mine stays mine. Your road. My road. And miles we choose to walk together. That's not distance. That's room to breathe. [BRIDGE — CLEAN GUITAR, CELLO, THEN DRUMS BUILD] [MALE LEAD ONLY] I want a love that opens doors. Not one that locks them. A love that says: "Go see your friend." "Finish the work." "Call your family." "Take the hour alone." [PAUSE] "And when you're done, come tell me what you found." [FINAL CHORUS — FULL BAND + STACKED MALE HARMONIES] OTHER THINGS MATTER TOO! AND THAT'S ALL RIGHT! LOVE CAN HOLD A WIDER WORLD WITHOUT LOSING ANY LIGHT! OTHER THINGS MATTER TOO! SO KEEP THEM TRUE! YOUR FRIENDS. YOUR WORK. YOUR NAME. YOUR DREAMS. AND STILL— I CHOOSE YOU! OTHER THINGS MATTER TOO! THAT'S HOW I KNOW THIS ISN'T A CAGE! WE DON'T HAVE TO SHRINK THE WORLD TO GIVE OUR LOVE A PLACE! [FINAL BREAKDOWN — MALE VOICES ONLY] [MALE GROUP] LOVE! [MALE LEAD] KEEP IT. [MALE GROUP] FRIENDS! [MALE LEAD] KEEP THEM. [MALE GROUP] PURPOSE! [MALE LEAD] FOLLOW IT. [MALE GROUP] SELF! [MALE LEAD] KEEP THAT TOO. [MALE GROUP] US! [MALE LEAD] CHOOSE IT. [OUTRO — CLEAN GUITAR, CELLO, NO DRUMS] [MALE LEAD ONLY] You're not the only thing that matters. [PAUSE] You're the one I want beside me while the other things matter too.
