✍🏼 ALL LYRICS BY EME LATINA (2025) ———————— ABOUT THE SONG: ———————— Even though this song was written around the prompt given to me for this challenge, it is nevertheless personal in nature. I wanted the sound design to evoke nostalgia and transport the listener—vinyl crackle and soft wind elements were essential for creating the sense of being in that attic, with the breeze drifting thru. The soulful vocals, bluesy guitar, and jazzy delivery is meant to capture that old-school melancholy, the bittersweet place where past and present meet. It’s meant to feel intimate—just you and your photograph. If these old portraits and selfies could speak, what would they say? Would they miss you as you stash them away in a box? Some memories get forgotten... some get pushed aside... but every one of them has its own heartbeat, and each one, no matter how brief, carries so much of you. These photographs become a data collection of you; they are portals of you, and of the people that one day passed by. In the end, an old photograph might be all that is left of your existence. -------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE CHALLENGE: -------------------------------------------------- 🎡 Round 4 Challenge: Perspective Flip We assigned each artist a unique narrator perspective at random from a pool of unusual and creative options. ASSIGNMENTS: • Eme: A sword in a museum display case longing for battle again OR An old photo in a dusty attic, speaking to the person who left it there RULES: • Your song must be written from one of your assigned perspectives • No changing the narrator to something else — stick to the assigned concept • Any genre/style is allowed TRACK REQUIREMENTS: • Length: 2–6 minutes • Allowed features: using cover feature is not allowed • Explicit lyrics: allowed • Not allowed: disgusting or offensive content (hate/harassment, slurs, bigotry, graphic/gross-out shock content) DEADLINE: Sunday, August 17, 2025 at 6:00 AM -------------------------------------------------- LYRICS: -------------------------------------------------- [Intro] Up here in the rafters, the air smells of years, Light spills through the cracks, but it never nears.[stop] [Verse 1] I recall the morning you woke with a smile You were a kid back then... now it's been a while You had that Kodak camera, I heard it click You preserved time... in that one single pic [Pre-Chorus - Add strings to lift tension, slightly more pronounced snare] I recall existing one day, somehow Full of the color that is worn from me now... You put me away with the winter and dust, but I am holding on... for the both of us... [Chorus - Open up with fuller drums, guitar chords, and bass walking higher] I know you like the palm of your hand, every time you'd hold me Before I got banned You may not see me, but I still see you— Right here, where you left me, Like you always do. [Verse 2] My edges have curled, as people have died... You can still make out the spots were your tears have dried... I’ve watched all your seasons from under this roof, Your absence has aged me, but I’m still living proof... [Chorus] And I know you like the palm of your hand, every time you'd hold me Before I got banned You may not see me, but I still feel you— Right here, where you left me, Like you always do. [guitar interlude] [Bridge] You filed me away when the real got rough, When you grew up and realized love wasn't enough If you open this box, you’ll find yourself too— I am the portal... to a different you. [Final Chorus] And I know you like the palm of your hand, every time you'd hold me Before I got banned You may not notice, but I still see you— From right here, where you left me, Like you always do. [Post-Chorus] Up here in the rafters, I wait for the day You’ll take me back down, and I'll hear you say: "I miss you... " "I miss you... " Oh, where's the girl you used to be? "I miss you... " "I miss you... " [Outro - Fade out with guitar bends and organ swells] One day more, I will be all that's left You will be gone, just like everyone else..." "...just like everyone else..."
