Don't Valorize the Void

low male lead vocal with throat-resonance grounding, bowed lyre and nyckelharpa weaving the main melodic lines, upright bass and bowed double bass droning in fifths, frame drum and bodhrán entering verse two with slow processional pulse, birch-bark rattles and bone percussion in choruses, harmonium and shruti box drones throughout, female vocal joining in unison then splitting to fifth above in bridge, throat-singing undertone in final chorus only, recorded as if in a wooden longhouse, ritual gravity without theatricality, no modern percussion, no electric instruments, austere first half blooming into ensemble weight by the bridge, modal and ancient

[Pre-Chorus]
And the quiet voice says, hush, let it end
No ache, no sorrow, no wound to mend
But hush is not healing, and still is not whole —
Peace is a chord, not a solo soul

[Chorus]
Don't valorize the void
Don't mistake the hush for good
An empty garden's tidy — but there's nothing left to bloom
Don't valorize the void
Don't dress the silence up
A life worth the living is better — better than nothing at all
Better than nothing at all

[Verse 2]
They'll tell you minimize the pain
Subtract the sorrow, ease the strain
But follow that arrow to where it must fall
And the answer they're aiming at is nothing at all
A world with no one is a world with no wrong
And a world with no wrong is a world with no song

[Pre-Chorus]
So I'll take the bruise and I'll take the bet
On a morning I haven't been promised yet
'Cause the void takes the roses along with the blight —
And I won't call that winning, I won't call that right

[Bridge]
The safe thing is nothing — no seed and no spring,
No mouth to go hungry, no throat left to sing
But I'll break the cold ground for a green I can't see,
For a harvest that no one has promised to me
Aim at the morning, not away from the night
Aim at the morning, not away from the night

[Final Chorus]
So don't valorize the void
Don't crown the empty throne
The cure for a hurting world ain't a barren empty home
Don't valorize the void
Sing it back to the dark:
A life worth the living is better — better than nothing at all
Yeah, somebody's better than no one at all
Somebody's better than no one at all

2047/7500

[Verse 1] You can't lose a race you never run You can't break a heart that was never won There's a kind of safety in the empty room — No wedding, no funeral, no bride, no groom The ledger of zeroes runs cold and clean — No hand was held there, no vow made between [Pre-Chorus] And the quiet voice says, hush, let it end No ache, no sorrow, no wound to mend But hush is not healing, and still is not whole — Peace is a chord, not a solo soul [Chorus] Don't valorize the void Don't mistake the hush for good An empty garden's tidy — but there's nothing left to bloom Don't valorize the void Don't dress the silence up A life worth the living is better — better than nothing at all Better than nothing at all [Verse 2] They'll tell you minimize the pain Subtract the sorrow, ease the strain But follow that arrow to where it must fall And the answer they're aiming at is nothing at all A world with no one is a world with no wrong And a world with no wrong is a world with no song [Pre-Chorus] So I'll take the bruise and I'll take the bet On a morning I haven't been promised yet 'Cause the void takes the roses along with the blight — And I won't call that winning, I won't call that right [Chorus] Don't valorize the void Don't mistake the hush for good An empty garden's tidy — but there's nothing left to bloom Don't valorize the void Don't dress the silence up A life worth the living is better — better than nothing at all [Bridge] The safe thing is nothing — no seed and no spring, No mouth to go hungry, no throat left to sing But I'll break the cold ground for a green I can't see, For a harvest that no one has promised to me Aim at the morning, not away from the night Aim at the morning, not away from the night [Final Chorus] So don't valorize the void Don't crown the empty throne The cure for a hurting world ain't a barren empty home Don't valorize the void Sing it back to the dark: A life worth the living is better — better than nothing at all Yeah, somebody's better than no one at all Somebody's better than no one at all

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