**[INTRO – piano and western steel-string acoustic guitar only, slow around 72 BPM, soft piano chords and delicate fingerpicked guitar, quiet and spacious, no vocals]** **Verse 1** **[Close intimate female lead; sparse piano beneath gentle acoustic picking, restrained dynamics]** I keep the window open, but I never step outside. I say I want the distance, then I find a place to hide. I know the lock is nothing, I know the door can move. Still I stand here making reasons for the things I never do. I’ve memorized these walls so well they almost feel like home. Funny how a place can hold you when you built it on your own. **Pre-Chorus** **[Piano becomes slightly more melodic, acoustic guitar shifts to light strumming; remain soft, no build]** No chains around my ankles, no hands around my wings. Just a thousand little questions turning into heavier things. **Chorus** **[Simple memorable melody; piano and gentle acoustic strumming only, same quiet intensity, no chorus explosion]** Free, free like a bird. Free like a bird in a cage. I can see the whole sky, I just can’t make myself change. Free, free like a bird, with the key in my hand. I could leave in a heartbeat, but I don’t know where I’d land. Free like a bird... afraid to fly away. **Verse 2** **[Return to fingerpicked acoustic guitar and sparse piano; close vulnerable delivery]** I wear the same old habits like a coat that’s lost its shape. They don’t keep me warm anymore, but I’m scared to throw them away. There are roads I never follow, names I never dare to call, doors I almost walk through before I turn back down the hall. I tell myself tomorrow I’ll be braver than today. But tomorrow learns my excuses and quietly does the same. **Pre-Chorus** **[Soft piano chords, gentle guitar strum, no added instrumentation]** Maybe fear can sound like reason. Maybe doubt can sound like truth. Maybe all the things that stop me only live inside this room. **Chorus** **[Same restrained arrangement, slightly fuller piano voicings, acoustic guitar remains gentle]** Free, free like a bird. Free like a bird in a cage. I can see the whole sky, I just can’t make myself change. Free, free like a bird, with the key in my hand. I could leave in a heartbeat, but I don’t know where I’d land. Free like a bird... afraid to fly away. **Bridge** **[Acoustic guitar drops to single picked notes, piano very sparse; most vulnerable section, almost whispered in places]** What if the bars disappear and I still stay? What if the cage was never steel, just every choice I didn’t make? What if the world outside isn’t asking me to be brave? Maybe freedom starts when I stop calling fear a safe place. **Final Chorus** **[Piano and acoustic guitar only, intimate and steady; emotional weight comes from melody, not volume]** Free, free like a bird. Free like a bird in a cage. The door has always been open. I’m the one who stayed. Free, free like a bird, with the sky in my hands. Maybe I don’t need to know exactly where I’ll land. Free like a bird... **Outro** **[Acoustic guitar fades to delicate picking, piano holds soft final chords; final line quiet, dry and close]** Maybe one day I’ll believe that I can.
