(Low, intimate, raspy baritone - close to the mic) [Intro] [sparse piano arpeggios like drops of water, distant cold synth pad, single cello note held beneath] [Verse 1] [drums absent, dry vocal up front, minimal reverb, solo violin enters on line 3] Tonight I waited for you To hear your footsteps on the stairs Old voices in this house still call me Even though you're not there [Pre-Chorus] [low string pulse builds slowly, viola joins, vocal gains faint tremor] Now I know I won't hear the window hum When you come home When you come home [Chorus] [full strings swell, deep double bass ostinato, vocal layered with long cathedral delay, soft timpani roll underneath] Can you tell me everything we did was worth it all? I heard you breathe — then silence filled these walls In these walls In these walls In these walls [Verse 2] [strip back to piano and voice, cello counter-melody answers each line, fragile delivery] Your coat still hangs beside the door The hallway holds the shape of you I set two plates out of habit Then learn the table two ways new [Pre-Chorus 2] [strings climb half-step, breath audible before first word, slight distortion creeps in] Now I know I won't hear the window hum When you come home When you come home [Chorus] [full orchestral weight, layered vocals with delay, crescendo that grows heavier without resolving] Can you tell me everything we did was worth it all? I heard you breathe — then silence filled these walls In these walls In these walls In these walls [Bridge] [all instruments drop except one sustained violin harmonic and whispered vocal, cathedral reverb opens wide] And if the rain forgets the glass And if the dark forgets your name Then I will be the only room That still remembers how you came [Final Chorus] [full band returns one last time, dynamics at their heaviest, vocal breaks slightly on "worth it all," strings sustain unresolved] Can you tell me everything we did was worth it all? I heard you breathe — then silence filled these walls In these walls... In these walls... [Outro] [instruments fall away one by one, leaving solo piano arpeggio from intro, final cello note decays into room tone and white noise fade]
