Nothing Added, Nothing Missing - Zero Dosage

[Intro — felt piano, sub bass, a slow heartbeat pulse. Nothing else. Eight bars.] [Verse 1 — close, breathy, almost spoken. Piano and pulse only.] Twenty-eleven, I was still trying To polish every crack out of the glass Thought love was something clean and shining Thought perfect meant erasing all the past Ten years sleeping under pressure Quiet where nobody could see Turns out time does something better Than fixing what was never wrong with me [Pre-Chorus — brushed drums enter, low strings hum, still restrained] No sugar on the ending No lie to soften truth No diamond needs defending When the light cuts straight through [Chorus 1 — held back. Voice opens a little, band does not. First two stanzas only.] Nothing added Nothing missing Every scar exactly where it should be No disguise and No permission I became enough when I stopped fixing me [Verse 2 — a little more air in the arrangement, guitar swells under] Teal cut into the midnight Black dress, one stripe turned the other way Elegance without the spotlight The kind that never has to beg you to stay Peach and almond, stone and brioche All those years still humming in the glass You can taste the weight of patience You can taste the things that chose to last [Pre-Chorus — building] No sweetness for forgiveness No softening the edge Just everything that happened And everything it left [Chorus 2 — wider now, strings in, drums full. Adds the third stanza.] Nothing added Nothing missing Every scar exactly where it should be No disguise and No permission I became enough when I stopped fixing me Better than diamonds Better than pearls Better than all the pretty things in the world [Bridge — everything drops to piano and the heartbeat. Spoken-sung, intimate. Then the swell begins under the last three lines.] A decade in the dark Didn’t make me less It taught me how to hold All the pressure in my chest And maybe that is luxury Not flawless, not untouched But knowing what you are And never adding too much No sugar No apology No second skin No vanity Just time And truth And what survives [Final Chorus — the climax. Full band, distorted guitar swell, strings, layered vocals. Controlled — powerful, never shouted.] Nothing added Nothing missing I don’t need another version of me No disguise and No permission Imperfection was the symmetry Better than diamonds Better than pearls Better than every fix they sold to the world Slow on the tongue Fire underneath Held all the way And finally complete [Outro — everything gone. Piano, heartbeat, one voice. The last line almost whispered.] Nothing added Nothing taken away Perfect Because I stayed this way.