[Intro] [Very sparse — single quiet guitar or soft piano, almost nothing] [Verse 1] I fixed the porch step in the morning rain Same board that broke the year my father went The coffee’s weak, the dog is getting slow Some days I talk just to hear a voice I know There’s pictures in a drawer I never open A woman’s laugh that lives behind my ribs I keep the house the way she would have wanted And tell myself that this is how love lives [Chorus] I’m still here below Under the same old sky Counting what I have And what I had to leave behind The world keeps turning quiet And I keep breathing slow Still here below [Verse 2] My boy calls sometimes from another city His voice sounds older than it did last year He asks if I’m all right, I say I’m fine Then sit there longer when I end the call I walk the field when sleep don’t want me The dark feels closer than it used to be I name the stars I still remember And wonder if they’re looking back at me [Chorus] I’m still here below Under the same old sky Counting what I have And what I had to leave behind The world keeps turning quiet And I keep breathing slow Still here below [Bridge] [Arrangement begins to open — soft ambient pads, distant strings, sense of space growing] There’s so much dark between the lights So much silence after every sound I hold the small things like they matter Because they’re all that keep me on the ground [Final Chorus — wider, more atmospheric] I’m still here below Under a sky that doesn’t know my name Holding what I love And what I couldn’t save The world keeps turning quiet And I keep breathing slow Still here… Still here below [Outro] [Long, patient fade — ambient space remains, voice disappears, just the vastness left]
