[Intro: The sound of a distant school bell, slowed down and drenched in reverb. A clean, chorusy guitar picks out a Cmaj7 chord. Soft tape hiss.] [Verse 1] I’m standing in the static of a 1990s dream, The grass is way too green, or that’s just how it seems. She saw the crimson bleed, she felt the dust descend, And I’m looking through the years at a world that didn't end. Middle school shadows, stretching long across the floor, I’m the ghost of the girl who isn't standing there anymore. [Pre-Chorus] It’s "Mono no aware," the beauty of the break, The sound of a heart learning how much it can take. The field is just a field, but the feeling is a fire, Lifting us higher, and higher, and higher. [Chorus] Oh, catch the light before it’s gone, The ember’s burning, but the memory’s drawn. In permanent ink on a temporary page, A teenage heart in a digital age. Hold the frame, don't let it blur, I’m the keeper of the girl she was, and the things you were. [Verse 2] She sang of cherry blossoms, falling to the ground, I’m listening for the silence in between the sound. The "relentless pace" she feared? I’ve learned to slow it down, I’m still tracing all the maps in your old hometown. I’m older and I’m different, but the ache is still the same, I’m the one who remembers the sacred in her name. [Bridge] IT’S NOT GOING AWAY. THE MOMENT IS STUCK IN THE GRAY. If she had to let go, then I’ll be the one to find it, I’ll take the afterglow and I’ll get behind it! [Chorus] Oh, catch the light before it’s gone, The ember’s burning, but the memory’s drawn. In permanent ink on a temporary page, A teenage heart in a digital age. Hold the frame, don't let it blur, I’m the keeper of the girl she was, and the things you were. [Outro] It’s etched on my face. The ember... is still... warm.
