Berenice

[Intro: Clean guitar arpeggio with slight dissonance, no drums] You were fading Very quietly [Verse 1 – intimate] You used to speak in fevered sentences Now you barely move at all Time has taken what it wanted Left your shadow on the wall They say decay is natural That flesh is meant to part But something in your smile Refused to fall apart [Verse 2 – drums enter softly] Your eyes grew dim with distance Your hands forgot my name But there was something perfect That the illness couldn’t claim White and still and constant Unaffected by the breath Unafraid of all the changes Unafraid of death [Chorus – restrained, almost clinical] There are things that do not perish There are things that stay the same When the body turns to memory Something remains [Verse 3 – more detached] I don’t recall the thunder I don’t recall the rain They said I wandered restless They said I spoke your name There was soil upon my sleeves There was silence in the hall And a small box on the table That I don’t recall at all [Breakdown – instruments thin, bass exposed, vocal colder] I only wanted permanence A detail I could trust Something bright and certain In a body turned to dust [Final Chorus – slightly fuller, still restrained] There are things that do not perish There are things we try to save When the heart forgets its beating Something stays [Outro – instruments drop out one by one] You were fading Very quietly [end]