2 Hours Away

[Intro – lo-fi ambience, faint vinyl hiss, reverb-heavy clean guitar riff repeating 2 notes. Sub-bass slowly fades in.] (Ooooh, two hours away...) [Soft falsetto hums, wide stereo reverb, distant thunder or waves sound effect] (hmmm) (hmmm) [Verse 1 – breathy, close-mic vocal. Sparse guitar + low, muffled drum loop.] I saw you by the water, summer pulling at your hair You were laughing with your friends like you didn't have a care And I was just a stranger with my hands inside my pockets Thinking how I'd give anything to know what's in your head I wrote down your town's name on the back of a receipt Drove home that night knowing I'd lost sleep [Pre-Chorus – soft beat enters, bass comes in, vocals rise slightly in intensity] 'Cause all I am is someone Who saw something in your eyes And all I want is one chance To prove that I'm worth your time [Chorus – full drums, dreamy guitar layers, synth pads swelling, emotional but restrained delivery] So I'll take the morning highway when the world's still grey and sleeping Drive two hours just to walk with you and hear the words you're speaking You're so far above me, I can barely see the ceiling But you're letting me stay, letting me stay Two hours away [Falsetto echo]: (Two hours away... away... away...) [Delay tail bleeds into outro] [Verse 2 – groove settles in, more confidence in voice, light percussive snap and warmer bass tone] We talk about your city and the places that you go You're careful when you smile at me, like you're scared of letting go Your hands are in your sleeves and mine are nervous on the wheel I wonder if you notice all the things you make me feel The weather's getting colder and you're wearing my jacket now Something's slowly shifting but I don't know how [Pre-Chorus – slightly fuller vocals, airy harmonies] 'Cause all I am is hopeful That you'll see me standing here And all I want is somehow To be the one you keep near [Chorus – drums hit harder, layered vocals, echo tails on “sleeping” and “ceiling”] So I'll take the morning highway when the world's still grey and sleeping Drive two hours just to walk with you and hear the words you're speaking You're so far above me, I can barely see the ceiling But you're letting me stay, letting me stay Two hours away [Soft “ohhh-ohhh” ad-libs between lines, fading into breakdown] (ohhh-ohhh) (ohhh-ohhh) (ohhh-ohh) [Breakdown – stripped instrumentation, reverb-heavy synths, whispered vocals with delay, deep bass pulse] (Mmm, mmm) (Two hours, two hours) (Grey and sleeping, grey and sleeping) (Two hours away) (Mmm) (I can barely see the feeling) (Two hours, two hours away) [Bridge – soft drums return, electric guitar echoes, vocals front and raw with a sense of wonder] And I don't know when it happened Somewhere between the talks and all the silence But you looked at me different Like maybe I'm not just someone passing through Like maybe you feel it too (Ooooh… maybe you feel it too…) [Chorus - Final – big, cinematic, layered harmonies, drum fills, swelling synths] Now I take the morning highway and you're waiting there to meet me Two hours means nothing when I know that you believe me We were both just falling, neither one of us was ready But you let me stay, you let me stay I'm two hours away Just two hours away [Falsetto echo]: (Two hours away... away... away...) [Delay tail bleeds into outro] [Outro – ambient guitar echoes + vinyl hiss fade, muffled heartbeat-like kick every few seconds.] (Summer pulling at your hair) (Now there's winter in the air) I'd drive forever to get there [Soft humming, layered vocals slowly fading into white noise]