[Hook — sung live, soft and raw, almost falsetto, voice cracking slightly like he's trying not to feel it] When I go Don't cry When I go Don't cry [Verse 1 — melodic rapping over fingerpicked acoustic, warm baritone, Pittsburgh drawl, unhurried flow that rides his own chords] Yeah Ten thousand hands and a million plans And I still can't find the one that holds me still Devil moved in, got his name on the lease Sitting in my chair like he owns my peace I'm the tenant in my own damn life He's the landlord and I'm paying twice The circle don't break just because you see it Been seeing it for years, still can't leave it Still round Still bound To the start of the line every time I repeat it [Pre-Chorus — half-laughing, self-deprecating, guitar pulls back to just a held chord, brushed snare fades out] What are you gonna do, not get back on? Good luck with that You'd be the first [Hook — sung live, soft and raw, almost falsetto, voice cracking slightly] When I go Don't cry When I go Don't cry [Verse 2 — melodic rapping, slower now, more space between lines, guitar breathing with him] So I fell in a circle Painted it blue and called it a miracle Then spent the whole day looking for the edge Standing at the rim, staring at the ledge You know what's funny about a circle? There's no edge That's the whole joke And I'm the only one not laughing Or maybe I am [can't tell if it's a laugh or something else — neither can he] I miss Pittsburgh The way the city sits in a bowl like somebody's holding it Three rivers meeting at the Point and going round And you're just standing there, feet on the ground Going nowhere Drawing circles on napkins, setlists, my own damn hand Like if I draw enough of them, one might open Like if I say enough of them, one might be spoken [whisper, barely there] One of them [Instrumental Break — 4 bars, quiet fingerpicked guitar in odd-time, gentle, almost like a folk song that forgot it used to be heavy, no vocals] [Hook — sung live, a little louder now, more ache in it] When I go Don't cry When I go Don't cry (I said don't cry) (Prolly should) [Verse 3 — tired, half-laughing, the humor getting darker, drums drop out completely, just voice and guitar, melodic rapping even here] They want good news So I give 'em the performance Should've won something for that, honestly I keep goin', goin', goin' before I'm gone Like leaving early means you chose the dawn Like there's a version of this where I'm the one deciding The one still riding, the one still fighting [voice breaking, barely holding it together] Maybe I'll come back around [small, sad laugh] It's a circle, right? The circle always comes back around I just don't know which version of me is doing the coming back Or if I ever left the track So it goes [Outro — just voice and guitar, no drums, fading to silence, room ambience bleeding through] When I go Don't
