━━━ † ━━━━━━━━━ † ━━━ ──── ◐ ──────── ◑ ──── ▓▒░ WHEN I STAYED ░▒▓ Verse 1 — Male | restrained, intimate] Sometimes I hear your voice inside the hallway Even though you haven’t lived here for a year I tell myself it’s only old vibrations Little ghosts of conversations Funny how the quiet makes them reappear I got good at keeping all the lights on Like the dark might have a question I can’t face You told me time would make it easier But every day gets quieter And somehow you still occupy the empty space [Pre-Hook — Male | tension building] Maybe we were never meant to last Maybe I just learned that way too fast You walked away I stayed the same And watched you disappear [HOOK — Female enters, rising / powerful] DON’T SAY I LEFT YOU IN THE DARK! YOU CLOSED YOUR EYES WHEN I WAS RIGHT THERE! I gave you every little piece of me You only loved the parts you wanted to see DON’T MAKE ME CARRY ALL THE BLAME! LIKE I WAS THE ONE WHO TURNED AWAY! You keep remembering a love we never had So don’t call me back Don’t call me back Just because you’re lonely now [Verse 2 — Female | controlled, sharper] Sometimes I think about the nights I waited While you were somewhere living safely in your head You’d ask me why I sounded disappointed Then make me feel like I’d destroyed it Till I apologized for things you never said And every time I tried to draw a boundary You’d call it proof that I was giving up on us You loved the version where I needed you But hated when I finally knew That wanting you was never gonna be enough [Pre-Hook — Female | climbing] Maybe you remember something sweet I remember disappearing piece by piece You call it love I call it what I had to leave behind [HOOK — Female lead, Male answers underneath] DON’T SAY I LEFT YOU IN THE DARK! (You left without a warning…) YOU CLOSED YOUR EYES WHEN I WAS RIGHT THERE! (I thought that you were staying…) I gave you every little piece of me You only loved the parts you wanted to see DON’T MAKE ME CARRY ALL THE BLAME! (I never meant to blame you…) LIKE I WAS THE ONE WHO TURNED AWAY! (Then why’d you let me lose you?) You keep remembering a love we never had So don’t call me back Don’t call me back Just because you’re lonely now [Bridge — Male / Female overlap] Male: I thought we only needed time Female: You needed me to lose my mind Male: I thought that I was holding on Female: You never noticed I was gone Male: If I could say it differently— Female: There’s nothing left you need to say Male: Was any of it real to you? Female — silence, then softly: It was real. That’s why I walked away. [FINAL HOOK — Female belts / full instrumentation] SO DON’T SAY I LEFT YOU IN THE DARK! I BURNED FOR YOU UNTIL THERE WAS NOTHING! I gave you every little piece of me Till I became somebody I couldn’t be AND I WON’T CARRY ALL THE BLAME! I WON’T KEEP LOVING YOU THAT WAY! You can remember anything you want from us But don’t call me back Don’t call me back Just because you’re lonely— [Drop — Female, almost whispered] You don’t miss me. You miss who I was when I stayed. [Outro — Male, distant] And maybe that’s the hardest part… I think you’re right.
