[open — clean three-note vocal chop “you / knew / me” cut from a breathy sample; chopped guitar mirrors it; thick bass arrives before the kick; dry rim crack; vocal low, close, clipped] I thought I knew the deal, knew the feel, knew the shape of it knew your laugh, knew your habits, knew the days we made of it then I cut the line, cleared the signs, tried to stay away from it still my hand hit your name before my brain could put a brake on it [the “you / knew / me” chop shortens to “you / knew”; triplet hats enter; bass bends up, then chokes] Good news hit your name came up my hand hit your thread before my head caught up I had already left I meant every step still your name was the first thing that popped into my head [pre-hook — kick drops; guitar loop slices into uneven 3-3-2 pieces; mouth clicks take the snare] That’s when it hit me you were mixed in with everything every win, every joke every dumb little thing I didn’t just lose who I called I lost who got it first the one who knew why it mattered before I finished the words [hook — drums slam back crooked; “you / knew” becomes a glass stab; bass punches between bars; flow rolls, then snaps] I knew I loved you I just didn’t know how much till the good kept coming and you still came up You gave me every reason I was right when I left but your name still popped first before anybody else That’s how I found out not the fight, not the loss I could cut you out my life but not cut off the thought [post — last consonants chop into hats; guitar reverses; “knew” pitch-drops into bass punctuation] That messed with my head ’cause both things were true I could know I was better off and still miss being with you Could hate how it ended still laugh at what was good could know I’d never go back and still wish that I could [beat strips to bass knocks, finger snaps, breath clicks; vocal half-spoken] But missing you ain’t the same as wanting you back sometimes I miss how it felt before I knew all that Before every old memory came back split, came back stained before one good night had to drag your lie in its name [distorted bass bark answers the rhyme; kick doubles, then drops to one hit] So I quit checking old threads quit driving past your spot quit picking at the past like it owed me one more thought I let what happened stand without cleaning it up some of it was real and some of it was fucked [the glass stab stretches into a warped pad; hats thin; vocal gets rougher] No cap, I hate what you did but I still miss the lie we lived miss how right that shit felt before I knew what it hid Before every good memory came back stained by what you did now I look at the past and gotta sift through the mix What I gave you was real what you gave me was less I can miss how it felt without wanting it back I can know it was fake and still miss that old feeling I don’t want that shit back I just miss believing [bridge — drums vanish mid-word; warped pad crushes into a low pulse; guitar-pick scrape circles stereo] That’s the truth I can live with no twist, no clean ending I don’t miss who you are I miss who I thought I was getting I don’t miss what you did I miss what I thought it meant I don’t miss the way it broke I miss the way I believed in it [beat returns displaced; kick one eighth late; “you / knew / me” becomes chopped percussion] So I built new routes new rules, new rhythm put miles in the middle quit feeding the feeling Let the urge hit once let it burn, let it pass didn’t turn one old pull into a road going back Still a headline, a win some ridiculous scene could light that old wire and run straight through me I wouldn’t call wouldn’t cave wouldn’t confuse one flash of the past for a future I choose [final hook — full drums; half-time bass, double-time hats; original sample rebuilt as a distorted counter-rhythm; flow densest here] I knew I loved you I just didn’t know how much till the days kept moving and you still came up Not because I wanted you not because I forgot but because what I believed in was harder to shut off No cap, I hate what you did but I still miss the lie we lived miss how right that shit felt before I knew what it hid I don’t want that shit back I don’t want what it brings I don’t miss you now I miss believing [outro — drums strip bar by bar; distorted sample restores to the clean opening phrase, but the last note is missing] I knew I loved you [one low bass hit] I just didn’t know how much [hard stop]
