[INTRO — soft shakuhachi + temple bells ambience + piano + clean guitar] (soft shakuhachi long notes) (temple bells ambience, distant) (piano minimal chords) (clean guitar arpeggios, wide reverb) MALE (spoken, whisper): Twenty-first… Monday night. The city fades into the fog. Neon on wet streets… and your name in my thoughts. Some lazy poet really thought love could exist on Earth. (beat slowly builds) [VERSE 1 — Male] I’m walking down these empty streets, the neon hits the rain. Every reflection in the puddles looks like my mistakes again. I wanted to text you first, but my hand just froze in place. ’Cause I already know the answer, and I can’t escape that taste. Streetlights stare like silent judges, cars keep rushing like my thoughts. I lost you slowly, piece by piece… and acted like I didn’t. [PRE-CHORUS — Male] I thought we’d make it through the dark, I thought you’d wait somehow… But you’re standing right in front of me, and you’re not mine right now. [CHORUS — Duet] This ain’t goodbye… it’s just us, this ain’t love… it’s smoke and dust. We burn, but never all the way, we’re not together… not okay. Twenty-first, the night stays cold, love on Earth is war untold. [VERSE 2 — Female] Why would you miss me now? My love for you went numb. Don’t try to bring me back again, you shouldn’t let me run. You stayed too sure I’d always stay, that I would understand. But I got tired of “tomorrow”… while drowning where you stand. And maybe you’ll start calling late, when loneliness gets loud… But that won’t work on me no more, I’ve paid enough for now. [PRE-CHORUS — Female] I don’t want your “I’m sorry”, it won’t fix what we became. I didn’t run away from love… I just won’t drown again. [CHORUS — Duet] This ain’t goodbye… it’s just us, this ain’t love… it’s smoke and dust. We burn, but never all the way, we’re not together… not okay. Twenty-first, the night stays cold, love on Earth is war untold. [BRIDGE — Spoken (Male, intimate)] Falling asleep with you on my mind… Waking up with you on my mind… And holding myself back from texting you… that’s a whole different kind of pain. Wanting to talk to someone so bad, and staying silent… that’s torture. And I’ll be real… I’d rather lose you completely than talk to you halfway. ’Cause I was never the type to be a lover… or a friend… in pieces. I’m all in… or I’m gone. [FINAL CHORUS — Duet (big, emotional)] This ain’t goodbye… it’s just us, this ain’t love… it’s smoke and dust. We burn, but never all the way, we’re not together… not okay. Twenty-first, the night stays cold, love on Earth is war untold. [OUTRO — shakuhachi returns + temple bells fade] (shakuhachi solo, soft and emotional) (temple bells ambience, distant) MALE (whisper): Twenty-first… Monday night… and the city keeps breathing without us.
