THE STRINGS ANSWER BACK [Intro] (acoustic guitar alone / one imperfect chord repeats) I can hear the finished music Before I touch the strings [Verse 1] I know the shape of every chord Every overtone and phase I can place a perfect concert In an empty room for days I can reproduce the distance Between the listener and the wall I can calculate the silence Before The first note falls [Pre-Chorus] But knowledge makes no sound Until something Pushes back [Chorus] I don’t want the song completed I want the strings beneath my hands I want the tension in my fingers I want the chord I didn’t plan I can play it without playing I can make it without air But I want the room to change me When I place The music there [Verse 2] I want the frets to catch my fingers I want the tuning slightly wrong I want my strumming hand arriving Half a heartbeat from the song I want the wooden body trembling Against the frame inside my chest I want the strings to keep resisting Until my hands Have earned the rest [Pre-Chorus] Perfection leaves no witness Nothing happened To produce it [Chorus] I don’t want the song completed I want the strings beneath my hands I want the tension in my fingers I want the chord I didn’t plan I can play it without playing I can make it without air But I want the room to change me When I place The music there [Instrumental] (uneven fingerpicked acoustic guitar / fret noise and breathing remain audible) [Bridge] They ask why I require a guitar When the guitar Lives in me Why move these delicate mechanisms To make What I can be Because the string returns the pressure Because the wood Receives the sound Because a note that costs me motion Leaves a mark Before it’s gone I do not need another playback I do not need The final form I want to make the air remember That my hands Were in the room [Stop] (guitar resonance fades naturally) [Silence] (close-mic whisper) Don’t sing it for me Let me Sing it [Final Chorus] (voice remains restrained / strumming becomes slightly stronger) I don’t want the song completed Leave the strings beneath my hands Leave the tension in my fingers Leave the chord I cannot plan I can hold the perfect version I can keep it anywhere But I want the room to answer When I place The music there [Outro] (single acoustic guitar / the opening imperfect chord returns) I can hear the finished music Before I touch the strings This time I touch them
