[ONE FEMALE LEAD VOCAL ONLY] [Intro — voice + close acoustic piano] You know what I usually like... still ask me what I want tonight. [breath] I notice that. [Verse 1 — low chest voice, free rubato] You've seen the hair I didn't fix, felt these legs I didn't shave, the days I don't know what I need and don't know what to say. You've heard weeks, months, years of hurt come out in ten hard minutes— too sharp, too loud, too late to take it back. You never called it pretty. You never called it nothing. You just never made one bad moment my name. [Pre-Chorus — first lift] I've always known how to carry things, how to keep moving when they get heavy. I didn't know I could put something down... and still have love beside me. [Chorus — restrained, melodic] Open hands... and you're still here. I don't have to hold your love to know it's real. I can be soft. I can be stubborn. I can change my mind again. You don't disappear when I open my hands. [Instrumental — piano breathes, warm bass enters] [Verse 2 — warmer, more certain] You remember what I like, still ask me what I want. You know when I go quiet, don't decide what silence means. I can say, "Not tonight." I can come back when I'm ready. And when I find my way back, there's still warmth in your voice. Same warmth. Same voice. No punishment waiting in the room. You know me well... but you never use what you know against me, … or to tell me who to be. [Pre-Chorus 2 — voice begins opening] You've seen my heart when it's generous, my mind when it won't let go, my instincts telling me something before I even know how I know. You've seen me wrong. You've seen me tired. You've seen me with nothing left to give... and still wanted me there. Not useful. Not impressive. Just there. [Chorus 2 — richer] Open hands... and you're still here. Miles can lie between our bodies and somehow you stay near. I can need you without losing me. I can love you without leaving myself. I don't have to hold your love to feel it holding steady. Open hands... and you're still here. [Bridge — strip almost everything away] I had this picture of what love could be. Not perfect. Not easy. Just real enough for all of this. A place where I could say: "I was wrong." "That hurt." "I need you." "Leave me alone tonight." "I changed my mind." "I want you." "I don’t … I don't know." [long silence] And none of those words would have to mean goodbye. [cello enters] I thought maybe I was asking for too much. You never argued with me. You just kept showing up. [voice rises through mix] You never asked me to become smaller so your love could feel bigger. You never made me choose... between being yours and being mine. [brief silence] And I know your love is real... because I don't have to make you feel it. It comes from who you are. [Final Chorus — full emotional release, still human] Open hands... and you're still here. Life still gets heavy. I still get messy. Some days I don't know what I need. I still get angry. I still make mistakes. I still have things I have to own. You see what isn't pretty without making it all I am. [upper-register release] I can be the whole woman. Not the put-together one. Not the strong one. Not somebody easier to love. I don't have to hold onto you... [decrescendo] Nothing real falls through open hands. [Outro — piano only] You know what I usually like... still ask me anyway. [breath] I notice that. [almost spoken] I notice you.
