[Short Instrumental Opening - piano and room only; bass held back] [VOCAL V-A — SAME SINGER / HIGH TENOR / DRY-CLOSE / STRAIGHT / NO RUNS] i held too much until i almost broke now i have to build to get back home i miss the life i had before either way that life is gone [Short Piano Instrumental] i used to build for beauty for the light for the flow let things bend let things grow let the living find its shape it grew around me year by year roots got deep branches crossed i kept reaching kept it moving held the weight when it couldn't hold [Refrain - low pulse enters beneath the organic room] steel mind soft heart build it clean come back COLD [Short Instrumental - bass gains weight, low strings enter] [Construction - ornament falls away; rhythm becomes fixed and physical] So I tore it down cut out the life roots came up ground went bare forms went in concrete down steel up [Short Instrumental - rhythm and low end lock into place] strange words same steel built to hold what i can't BUFFER so pressure has room STATE so true stays true CLOSURE so something ends CUSTODY [Short build] SO IT ISN'T ME [Instrumental Answer] [Short Drum Build - responses tighten, space compresses] i turned for home slow at first waiting for the weight to call me back one step then another nothing called nothing fell [Long Instrumental Hold - fewer elements, same stability] and still it HELD [Short Fade] [Aftermath - drums recede; opening piano and wood return] the trees were gone the ground was hard everything standing where it should concrete where the roots had been steel where my sholders were [Pull Back - structure remains underneath almost nothing] strong quiet cold [Human Turn - same singer; breath loosens, timing becomes less exact] i knew i was done not proud not sorry just standing there thankful I can finally go home chest is heavy i miss the warmth [Outro - piano and room remain with the structural floor] steel mind soft heart build it clean come back COLD steel mind soft heart steel mind soft heart soft heart [Fade Out]
