[INTRO — SOLO PIANO] [Very quiet and spacious.] [Allow several seconds before the vocal enters.] [Female lead begins intimately, as though saying goodbye to one person.] [VERSE 1 — TENDER AND RESTRAINED] Ae fond kiss, and then we sever One last moment, ours forever One last look before you go One last thing I need you to know There are loves that disappear There are loves that linger here Ours will live where memory stays Long beyond these final days [PRE-CHORUS — CELLO ENTERS] [Keep the vocal controlled, with emotion beginning to break through.] If I could spare us all this pain Would I choose to love again? Knowing where the road would end Would I still have let you in? [CHORUS — FIRST EMOTIONAL LIFT] [Strings open gently across the stereo field.] [Do not reach full power yet.] Had we never loved so kindly Had we never loved so blindly Never met and never parted Maybe I would leave whole-hearted But I knew you And you knew me For a little while completely So I won't wish our love away Even as I watch you walk away [SHORT INSTRUMENTAL] [Piano and cello repeat the chorus melody.] [Leave audible emotional space between phrases.] [VERSE 2 — MORE CERTAIN, STILL INTIMATE] There were mornings made of gold There were nights I thought we'd hold There were ordinary days I would never trade away Every laugh and every tear Every year that brought us here If tomorrow takes you far It cannot change the things we are [PRE-CHORUS — BEGIN THE LONG BUILD] [Add low strings and distant French horn.] [Vocal grows stronger but remains emotionally controlled.] Love was never time possessed Love was giving you my best And if leaving is the price I'd still choose you in this life [CHORUS — FULLER] [Broader strings and restrained drums enter.] [Allow sustained notes on “kindly,” “blindly,” and “away.”] Had we never loved so kindly Had we never loved so blindly Never met and never parted Maybe I would leave whole-hearted But I knew you And you knew me For a little while completely So I won't wish our love away Even as I watch you walk away [BRIDGE — EVERYTHING FALLS AWAY] [Return almost completely to solo piano.] [Vocal close, vulnerable and nearly whispered.] [Gradually introduce cello beneath the second half.] Fare thee well, my first and fairest Fare thee well, my best and dearest I could ask the years for more I could beg you at the door But love should never have to stay Just to keep goodbye away So take the part of me you knew I'll keep the part I learned from you [PAUSE] [Allow near silence.] [FINAL BUILD — BEGIN VERY SOFTLY] [Cello states the melody.] [Strings gradually join from opposite sides of the stereo image.] [French horns enter warmly.] [Percussion builds only near the climax.] Had we never loved so kindly... [Allow the line to hang unfinished.] Had we never loved so blindly... [Lead vocal grows in strength.] Never met— [Brief silence.] Or never parted— [Massive orchestral swell into final chorus.] [FINAL CHORUS — FULL SYMPHONIC CLIMAX] [Lead female vocal reaches full power.] [Use soaring sustained notes without oversinging.] [Full orchestra, majestic French horns, powerful drums and restrained luminous choir.] [Make this cathartic rather than tragic.] Had we never loved so kindly Had we never loved so blindly Never met and never parted I would never know this heartache But I'd never know your laughter Never know the years thereafter Never know what love could be When someone knew the whole of me So let the tears come if they may I won't wish one hour away For I knew you And you knew me And that was worth The leaving [FINAL REFRAIN — ORCHESTRA BEGINS TO RECEDE] [Choir becomes distant.] [Lead vocal returns to tenderness.] Ae fond kiss And then we sever Ae fond kiss... And love Forever [ENDING — SOLO PIANO AND CELLO] [Let the orchestra completely disappear.] [Piano quietly returns to the opening chords.] [Cello answers once from the opposite side of the stereo field.] [End unresolved for a moment, then resolve softly.]
