A Quiet Place To Hate Myself

[VERSE 1 — deep baritone, nearly whispered; fingerpicked guitar] I turned the music down. I couldn't take the sound. Funny what you hear when no one's fucking around. No voices left to fight. No enemy tonight. Just me— and everything I know when I turn out the light. [INSTRUMENTAL — sparse acoustic guitar; distant bass enters] [REFRAIN — low melodic clean vocal] **I needed somewhere quiet to hate myself tonight. Somewhere I could finally lose the need to prove I'm right.** No one left to punish. No one left to fight. Just a quiet place to hate myself— **tonight.** [LONG INSTRUMENTAL — clean electric guitar joins; restrained drums slowly enter] [VERSE 2 — intimate clean vocal] I said they made me this. I made myself a list. Every name became a reason I could never coexist. Then I crossed them one by one. And when the last was done— there I was. Still fucking angry. **Still the only one.** [INSTRUMENTAL — distorted guitar enters, but never fully erupts] [FINAL REFRAIN — voice cracks slightly; no screaming] **I needed somewhere quiet to hate myself tonight. Somewhere I could finally lose the need to prove I'm right.** No one left to punish. No one left to fight. And for the first time— I wondered if the thing I hate **is the thing I hold too tight.** [Everything cuts except one low guitar note]