[OCTOPUS POP — 104 BPM • 8/8 body heart, 3+3+2 memory edits and displaced 5+3 creature response • intimate psychological body-horror, never theatrical] [EIGHT ARMS — 1 piano Crown hides truth; 2 bowed-glass Mirror performs the lie; 3 fretless-bass Body carries the creature; 4 viola Severed arm protects unfinished truths; 5 skin-drum Ground keeps 8/8; 6 sucker-clicks attach to false details; 7 reed-organ Skin recolors them; 8 formant-string Mouth copies male vowels.] [VOCALS — Male solo. British high-tenor human lead stays close, tender and clear. Lower male creature stacks repeat his false memories. Buried male falsetto protects true fragments. All are versions of one man; no female vocals, choir, growling or belting.] [INTRO — “There you are” survives instrumentally without female voice] There you— There you— There— [Male Human Lead] I heard you. [VERSE 1 — Creature copies final sounds] For one second, every muscle Loosened underneath my skin All the mouths stopped pulling sideways When you told me I was in there Then I felt it turn its focus From the iron to your face It pressed its tongue against your middle name And practiced every shape It watched the way I watched you Learned which pupil stayed on yours Found the part of me that loved you And began to pick the doors [PRE-CHORUS — Truth retreats into Arm 4] It couldn’t copy what we were Until I let you make me feel Now it’s reading every memory To learn which ones are real So the scar is on your right hand And your eyes were always brown You never climbed my window— [Creature Stack] You never came around [CHORUS 1 — Human invents; creature memorizes] I’ll remember you wrong Move the scar to the other hand Tell it your eyes were brown Tell it green was never yours I’ll remember you wrong Rearrange your walk and face If it learns you through my loving I will give it you to chase— Not you Not you Someone shaped untrue I’ll remember you wrong To keep it far from you [Clicks attach to each lie] (Brown…) (Right hand…) (Hates green…) (Never knew me…) [VERSE 2 — False details spread through Arms 2, 6 and 7] You were frightened when we met You would never touch a blade You despised the palace garden Never stayed out after eight You drank milk instead of wine You wore silver, never gold Every lie entered its breathing Every answer did as told But behind the altered details Something true kept striking through: Six green shirts inside my wardrobe And the cuff I stained for you [Buried Human Falsetto] Green— Left hand— Gold— Window— [Creature Stack] Red. Right. Brown. Never. [REGENERATIVE PHRASE — Viola protects the truth] Your middle— Your middle na— Your middle name was— Your middle— [Male Human Lead] No. You don’t get that one. [INK-CLOUD — False memories blur together] Brown eyes, right hand Never wore green Hated the garden Never knew me Brown-right-never Green-hate-no Brown-right-never— There she goes [Decoy hook relocates into bass] [CHORUS 2 — Creature carries melody; human hides beneath] [Creature Stack] I remember her wrong Scar resting on the other hand Her eyes were always brown And green was never hers [Male Human Lead] Take the copy Take the bait Take the woman I remade Follow every ruined detail Far away from the gate [Creature Stack] Not her Not her Someone shaped untrue I remember her wrong I know exactly who— [VACUUM SILENCE] [Male Human Lead] No, you don’t. [BRIDGE — His certainty weakens] [Male Human Lead] You wore red the night I met you Nothing spilled across your cuff I said brown became your eyes Then bought one shirt because— [Buried Human Falsetto] Green… Wine… Six… Gold… [True words move separately through four arms] [Male Human Lead] Green. Wine. Six. Gold. [JET IMPACT — Eight arms compress] [Male Human Lead] Those are mine. [VACUUM SILENCE] [FINAL CHORUS — Human and creature sing incompatible memories] [Male Human Lead] I’ll remember you wrong While the truth stays incomplete Keep your name without its ending Keep your footsteps without feet [Creature Stack] Brown eyes, right hand Never wore green Never climbed the window Never came for me [Male Human Lead] Take the copy I constructed Take the face that doesn’t fit I can lose a hundred details Just don’t make me lose— [The missing word continues instrumentally] [OUTRO — Creature follows the decoy; true melody returns damaged] Brown… Right hand… Never green… Never— [Male Human Lead] Your scar was on the left. Your eyes caught gold in green. You climbed into my window. You came back here for me. [Long pause] I know you. [One sucker-click attaches to the missing answer] I know— What was your middle name?
