02. Higher

[Intro: slow heavy pulse, engine synth, low muted guitar, sparse live drums] [Verse: slow, spaced heavy drums, close low baritone] The fire wakes beneath my feet, The straps are pulling me down tight. The hull is shaking, ground retreats, The sky is narrow, full of light. I keep your photo near my heart, The home I'm leaving, set apart. [Pre-Chorus: pulsing sixteenths enter, vocal stays low] Fire below and trembling all around, There's no way back to solid ground. [Chorus: driving drums, wide guitars] Higher, higher, higher, Through the pressure and the fire. Higher, higher, higher, And the Earth lets go my hand. [Verse: fast hybrid groove, muted guitar riff] The cities fade away below, Their lights dissolve into a thread. The dawn is burning on the glass, The dark of space is overhead. We're racing high above the clouds, My heart is beating free and loud. [Chorus] Higher, higher, higher, Through the pressure and the fire. Higher, higher, higher, And the Earth lets go my hand. [Guitar Solo: short melodic lead over pulsing drums] [Stage Separation: drums cut out abruptly, metallic click, silence] [Bridge: quiet pads, no drums, intimate low vocal] The roar is gone, the shaking stops, The stars shine through the window light. The curve of Earth is hanging still, And everything is calm and bright. [Outro: soft pulse, clean guitar, low spoken-sung vocal] Higher, higher, higher, The Earth is far behind me now. I see the sky a different way, It's living in my chest somehow. [End: guitar delay and soft synth tail] [End]