I LIVED IT ALL [Cold Open | solo male spoken-sung | felt piano only | steady four-beat cadence] I know you didn’t leave me. I know you had no choice. But knowing didn’t stop me Coming home to hear your voice. I never blamed you, darling. I just didn’t know Where all that love was meant to go. [Verse 1 | rhythmic storytelling | restrained pulse enters] I kept your number in my phone. I knew there’d never be a call. Some nights I played that message twice— You asking what I wanted from the store. I read us back to how we started, Before we knew what we would lose. I wasn’t looking for an ending. I wanted one more ordinary you. [Pre-Chorus | pulse continues | melody begins to rise] Some nights I knew that I was hiding. Some nights I let the morning in. You might have seen me standing still. You should have felt the work it took To stand again. [Chorus | melodic male vocal | same groove | wider chords] Across the distance, I kept making room for life. Sometimes I caught myself laughing And it took me by surprise. There were years I barely lived through. There were days I wanted more. I couldn’t put you down, But I could still walk through a door. I carried you. I carried on. Across the distance. [Verse 2 | spoken-sung cadence | bass and dry beat continue] I made a shelter out of work. You’d have called me out on that. Stayed late when there was nothing left But going home to face the flat. Some came close; I let them try. One said, “You’re somewhere I can’t reach.” She deserved more than I gave her. I had no answer when she left. But there were dinners I stayed late for, Friends who learned to make me laugh. You knew the boy who held your hand. There was a man who came from that. [Verse 3 | same rhythmic flow | faint reverse ambience] Once, in the lift, I saw your face. The doors slid back. The moment passed. I blamed the light, the lack of sleep, Then watched the silver closing fast. A stranger turned across the crowd. I followed till she disappeared. I stood there feeling like a fool, Then took the long way home from there. Before the room that changed my life, My collar tight, my mouth gone dry, I heard— [Beat drops | solo male whisper] Breathe. Go in. You know this. [Pulse returns] I almost turned. I almost asked. Then someone called me Through the door. I raised my head. I found my voice. And stayed to see What happened next. [Chorus | melodic male vocal | deeper pulse] Across the distance, I kept making room for life. Sometimes I caught myself laughing And it took me by surprise. There were years I barely lived through. There were days I wanted more. I couldn’t put you down, But I could still walk through a door. I carried you. I carried on. Across the distance. [Bridge | spoken-sung | piano and heartbeat pulse only] The years put silver in my hair. I needed glasses for my books. I took my time upon the stairs. One day I liked the way I looked. I wished that you could see me then. Not every day was missing you. Sometimes a whole day passed before I had a thing to tell you— And reached for you once more. Then came the room. The narrow bed. The voices trying to stay calm. I closed my eyes. The voices stopped. And there you were, Your hand held out. I knew your face. I knew my hands. Neither of us Was old again. “I always knew it was you.” I laughed. “I hoped. I think I knew.” You said, “I wanted you to live.” “I did. There’s so much I have to tell you.” [Final Chorus | melodic male vocal | warm harmonic lift | same underlying groove] Across the distance, There was more than you could see— People I was glad to know, Places I was glad to be. I wish you’d had those years beside me. I wish you’d seen what I became. I lived them all. I loved you through them. Now you take my hand, And there is no more distance. [Outro | piano motif slowing | solo male whisper] Come on, then. Let me tell you Everything. [Silence]
