[Verse 1 – minimal: voice + one lead texture | “1”] [Short phrases, lots of air] Woke up slow on a bed of sound, Spiral grass beneath my head. Moon winked once, the stars bent down, Said, “Boy, don’t fret what’s dead.” My fingers flickered chords of blue, The sky played back my name— Althea grinned from the Milky Way, And whispered,... ...“Ain’t that a flame?” [Chorus – add harmony or second guitar | “1 → 2”] [Same tempo, fuller field] 🎶 Light me a lantern, carved outta song, Drift with the bears who boogie along. Follow the riddle, but don’t ask for truth— It’s dancing in spirals, barefoot and loose. Oh Althea, sing me strange, Where love remembers to rearrange. 🎶 [Verse 2 – bass more active, gentle rhythmic play | “2 → 3”] [Call-and-response emerges] The colors weren’t colors, more like moods, The trees all hummed in threes. Time was a rubber band tied to a bell That only rang for thieves. And there I saw her — not quite real, Not quite pretend, but whole— She poured me tea from Saturn’s rings, And lit my ragged soul. [Chorus – density increases, not volume | “3 → 5”] 🎶 Light me a lantern, stitched outta lore, Where gravity dances and stories restore. Laugh with the dreamers who stitched up the sky— You ain’t gotta know, you just gotta try. Oh Althea, show me again, How to forget just enough to begin. 🎶 [Bridge – widest spiral, beat thins, time stretches] [Let phrases extend unevenly] She said, “Truth ain’t what they made you swear, It’s a giggle you share With someone who dares To see beauty where It don’t belong— That’s where it’s strong.” [Verse 3 – return spiral | 5 → 3 | grounded, reflective] So I walked where dead men tap their feet and ghosts sell painted glass, Through a town of thoughts that knew my name but didn’t dare to ask. And when I reached the edge of Now, where never meets again— She kissed my doubt and turned to light, and left me just a grin. [Final Chorus – full curve completed, warm resolve] [No hard stop; let it glow out] 🎶 Light me a lantern, - strung on your laugh, - Show me a map - that tears in half. - Catch me a memory - not written in stone— Let it breathe in the spaces we call home. Oh Althea, I know it’s you— Just wearing the world...like an old tattoo. 🎶
