[Verse 1] The schools sit open in the rain Lunchboxes rust in the lane A red swing turns by itself In the wind, nobody helps The pharmacy glass is gone A stroller sits with one wheel on Fresh paint peels off the store And the dogs don’t bark no more [Pre-Chorus] They learned our hands, our names Then sorted us like change Now every window stares Like it remembers [Chorus] After the lights, after the flame They kept our shape, then broke the name After the lights, after the flame We left a world they couldn’t save (After the lights) (After the flame) [Verse 2] The trains still run through the hill Packed with dust, and moving still Billboards preach to empty roads With smiling mouths and broken codes A wedding ring in a drain A baby shoe by the train The town hall clock still tries But it can’t count what dies [Pre-Chorus] They wear our coats and skin Like proof they came to win No graves, just rows of blue And cold white metal [Chorus] After the lights, after the flame They kept our shape, then broke the name After the lights, after the flame We left a world they couldn’t save (After the lights) (After the flame) [Verse 3] In the museum, glass is cracked A plastic crown still sits intact There’s a mural of the sea Painted for a family Now the old birds own the trees And roots drink through the streets I found a radio in the dirt It hissed once, then went inert [Bridge] If you hear this, know we tried With our hands up, open-eyed We loved too hard, we moved too slow We taught them how to let us go Under ash and under stone Our names still grind in bone Not a prayer, not a plea Just the shape of memory [Final Chorus] After the lights, after the flame They kept our shape, then broke the name After the lights, after the flame We left a world they couldn’t save After the lights, after the flame Still one last heartbeat in the rain (After the lights) (After the flame)
