(Intro) (Intimate, steady fingerpicked acoustic guitar, dry and close) (Verse 1) I sit across from you and watch you count the lines on my hand Asking why I can’t just make a life here in the sand I look toward the doorway, look at everything above And ask if you could grant me just one final act of love You shake your head real quiet and you hold on to my wrists Like you can keep me anchored just by clenching up your fists (Pre-Chorus) (Soft, stacked male harmony comes in subtly behind the main vocal) You tell me that I’m safe here, that we’ll figure out a way You think it’s just a rough patch or a rainy kind of day You think that you can save me if you just hold on real tight While I’m standing at the window looking out into the night (Chorus) (Fingerpicking becomes slightly faster, harmonies widen) Cause if I opened up the vault and pulled away the sheet If I showed you all the shadows that are waiting in the street If I handed you the ledger of the things I keep inside And the million secret reasons that I've buried and I've hid… If I let you know… Then you’d let me go. Yeah, if I let you know… Then you’d let me go. (Verse 2) You see the locked-up pages, but you do not know the print You think you see the whole fire when you only catch a glint I carry around a mountain while I pretend it’s just a stone Asking your permission to just leave it all alone And every time I bring it up, you look at me with dread Saying we can fight the monsters living underneath the bed (Pre-Chorus) (Harmonies grow thicker, vocals pushed slightly closer to the mic with raw emotion) You tell me not to check out, tell me I’m not allowed to fade You’re trying to repair a house that was never properly made You think that you’re protecting me by keeping me awake Unaware of how much weight a single frame can take (Chorus) (Rich, layered harmonies swelling beneath the lead) Cause if I opened up the vault and pulled away the sheet If I showed you all the shadows that are waiting in the street If I handed you the ledger of the things I keep inside And the million secret reasons that I've buried and I've hid… If I let you know… Then you’d let me go. Yeah, if I let you know… Then you’d let me go. (Bridge) (The fingerpicking pattern doubles in rhythmic energy; vocal harmonies stack into an intense choir of your own voice, building emotion without getting heavy) There are things I’ve done and things I’ve seen that you could never fix A poison in the foundation made of heavy stone and bricks If I told you what I’m fighting, it would shatter who you are It would break the way you see the world and leave a permanent scar I love you way too much to let you carry what I hold So I keep the fire hidden and I let the outside cold… (Chorus - Emotional Peak) (Lead vocal becomes raw and strained; multi-layered harmonies hit maximum intensity over driving fingerpicked guitar) If I opened up the vault and pulled away the sheet! If I showed you all the shadows that are waiting in the street! If I handed you the ledger of the things I keep inside And the million secret reasons that I've buried and I've hid… If I let you know… Then you’d let me go. God, if I let you know… Then you’d let me go. (Outro) (Music suddenly drops back to a soft, sparse single-string guitar pick) So you ask me to promise I'll stay one more night I pull back my hands and I lock up the light I smile through the quiet and I nod my head "yes" Leaving you with the silence… and leaving you to guess. (Single acoustic note ringing out until complete silence)
