I Still Know The Way Back

[OPENING — deep baritone over clean electric guitar and low melodic bass] It's getting harder to remember why I wanted to stay sick. But I still know every shortcut. I could find it fucking quick. Some nights I almost miss it. That's the part I can't unpack. I've come this far without it— **but I still know the way back.** [INSTRUMENTAL — clean guitar and bass develop the vocal melody] [CHORUS — aching clean vocal, drums entering gradually] **I still know the way back. Every turn, every crack. Every thought that pulled me under. Every lie that kept me trapped.** I don't want to live there. I don't want what I had. But sometimes I miss the feeling— **and I fucking hate that.** [EXTENDED GUITAR SOLO — melodic and mournful, slowly increasing in distortion] [SECOND SECTION — deep vocal over increasingly heavy irregular riff] There are nights I test the door just to see if it still swings. There are days I hear the old me in the quiet between things. He doesn't beg me to return. He doesn't need to ask. He knows— **I still know the way back.** [HEAVY SECTION — enormous half-time riff; first screamed vocals of the song] I KNOW THE ROAD. I KNOW THE NAME. I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE IT CHANGED. I KNOW THE DOOR. I KNOW THE TRACK. **I JUST DON'T HAVE TO FUCKING GO BACK.** [INSTRUMENTAL COLLAPSE — distorted guitars fall away until only clean guitar remains] [FINAL REFRAIN — quiet baritone] I still know the way back. Maybe I always will. Knowing where the road begins— doesn't mean I have to follow it. [Pause] **I can stand here still.** [Single clean guitar chord — unresolved]