[Intro] (a rippling kora 21-string harp and ngoni lute over gentle calabash percussion and balafon, warm Rhodes and Hammond, upright bass, patient and storytelling, spring reverb) [Verse 1] (gentle kora and brushed drums under a warm vocal, ngoni answering, tape saturation) "How you been?" "Oh, you know, hangin' in" — that's the line I always give Folded up the whole true story, kept it small enough to live Everybody's got a bus to catch, everybody's halfway gone So I trimmed it down to nothing, and I carried the rest along [Pre-Chorus] (balafon and pedal steel lifting, the groove warming) Then you pulled a chair up backwards, said "I got nowhere to be Start it at the very beginning" — Lord, when's the last time somebody said that to me [Chorus] (close harmonies and Hammond bloom warm, kora shimmering, tender and full) "Give me the longer version, the one you never tell The part you always skip past, the years you went through hell I got a whole entire evening, I got coffee and a chair Don't you dare give me the short one" — and I sat there in the care Somebody wanted the longer version [Verse 2] (back to the rippling kora groove, ngoni and balafon trading, calabash steady) Been the short one for so long now I forgot I had the rest All the chapters that don't fit the elevator and the guest And it came out kind of clumsy, came out sideways, came out slow But you didn't check your phone once, and you let the whole thing show [Pre-Chorus] (pedal steel and Hammond climbing, warm) And I cried a little halfway, and you didn't try to fix You just handed me a napkin, said "keep going, I'm not missing this" [Chorus] (fuller, harmonies and kora wide) "Give me the longer version, the one you never tell The part you always skip past, the years you went through hell I got a whole entire evening, I got coffee and a chair Don't you dare give me the short one" — and I sat there in the care Somebody wanted the longer version [Bridge] (drops to kora and hushed vocal and soft calabash, intimate, then a warm build) 'Cause it don't cost a thing but minutes, and it's rarer than it should be Just to say to somebody drowning "tell me everything, I'm free" Half the world is walking wounded, holding stories no one wants So I'm gonna be the chair that turns around, I'm gonna be the one that stops [Instrumental solo] (a soaring kora-and-pedal-steel solo trading warm cascading lines with ngoni and balafon over the calabash groove, Hammond swelling, building) [Final Chorus] (biggest lift, close harmonies and kora blazing warm) So give me your longer version, the one you never tell I got a whole entire evening and I know that hell too well I got coffee, I got nowhere, I got two ears and a chair And I want the parts you're scared of, I'll be sitting right there I want to hear the longer version [Outro] (the kora returns to the intro ripple, ngoni and calabash fading, balafon settling, spring reverb trailing off)
