[Intro] [Swamp ambience — frogs, insects, distant birds] [Slow river water] [Old tube amp hum] [Sparse fingerpicked acoustic guitar] [Verse 1 — deep female alto, very low, weary and intimate] Sun is rising over green fields, birds are singing loud, But that golden light above me just can't break this shroud. I'm sitting in my front yard, feeling cold down to my bones, The warmth of the sunshine, but I'm still cold as stone. [Short slide guitar response] [Distant crow] [Verse 2 — low chest voice, almost whispered] Shadows creeping near me, whispering my name, Every note of happiness just fades into the same. In my soul, something withered, lost in time's cruel flow, And what's been broken knows it won't be whole. [Breathy harmonica] [Long cracked slide guitar note] [Verse 3 — deeper, darker, emotionally numb] The echoes of the river, they call my weary heart, But the blues in the swamp won't let me restart. I reach for that old bottle, but the fire's long gone cold, Lost in this swamp haze, where lost souls found their home. [Instrumental break] [Slow mournful slide guitar] [Harmonica drifting in and out] [Frogs and insects] [No drums] [Chorus — deep female alto, restrained despair] Oh, the sun is high, but I'm feeling low, In this swamp haze, the pain won't let me go. The laughter of the birds can't chase my shadows away, Even with the daylight, I'm lost in shades of gray. [Long pause] [Acoustic guitar creaks] [Low swamp ambience] [Verse 4 — almost spoken, exhausted] I search for the melodies that used to fill the air, But now I'm stuck between the notes, lost in there. Where joy once lived, there's only numbness now, Lost in this swamp, can't remember how. [Very distant slide guitar] [Distant thunder] [Voice nearly breaking] [Final Chorus — quiet, defeated, no vocal power] So I'll sit here waiting, as the day drags on, In the quiet of the swamp, all hope is gone. Though the sun shines brightly, it don't reach my heart, In this swamp of sorrow, I become a part. [Outro — barely audible] In this swamp of sorrow... I become a part... [Long silence] [One final dying slide guitar note] [Frogs] [Insects] [River water] [Tube amp hum fading into silence]
