[Intro – alarm clock, cassette click, immediate galloping riff] Six A.M.— Hit snooze, hit twice No sleep, no problem Who needs advice? [Verse 1 – fast, playful female vocal] First bell ringing, coffee shaking Homework finished on the train Smile at everyone who asks me Why I look half-dead again Lunch break spent on circuit diagrams Physics notes beneath my tray Three new messages from Grandma: “Please come home on time today” Clock out late, run through the backstreets Garage door and amplifier Change my clothes, charge up the drones Another night above the wires [Pre-Chorus – rising guitars] Keep the engine screaming Keep the solder hot Keep my hands in motion So my head is not [Chorus – huge, fast sing-along] I’m too busy to break Too fast to fall apart I fill every second So the silence cannot start There’s a city still awake And a hundred lives at stake No, I don’t have time to ache— I’m too busy Too busy to break! [Verse 2 – harder rhythm, witty delivery] Midnight shift of rooftop running Two-bit thieves beneath the signs Miss the landing, roll the shoulder Tell myself that bruise is fine Buzz goes left and Lucky crashes Cricket vanished down a drain Blink is flashing low on power Here comes that damn siren again I can’t trade a punch with giants I can’t take a bullet clean But I’ve got zip ties, faulty wiring And a fire escape between [Pre-Chorus – gang vocals answering] Keep the cable moving! Never check the scars! Keep my eyes on Brightstone! Never count the hours! [Chorus] I’m too busy to break Too fast to fall apart I fill every second So the silence cannot start There’s a city still awake And a hundred lives at stake No, I don’t have time to ache— I’m too busy Too busy to break! [Post-Chorus – shouted backing vocals] School! Work! Build! Fight! Sleep can wait another night! Run! Swing! Burn! Glow! Don’t stop moving— Don’t go slow! [Verse 3 – music grows heavier] Grandpa leaves new cable fittings By the tools he knows I use Grandma keeps my dinner warming Though she knows what I will choose Friends keep asking where I’ve been I say, “Busy, nothing new” There’s a party Friday evening Maybe next week I’ll come through There is always one more rooftop One more damaged thing to mend One more stranger needing rescue One more reason to pretend [Pre-Chorus – vocals beginning to strain] If I keep the whole world spinning If I never miss a call Maybe I won’t hear the moment When there’s nothing left at all [Chorus – more desperate] I’m too busy to break Too fast to fall apart I fill every second So the silence cannot start There’s a city still awake And a hundred lives at stake No, I don’t have time to ache— I’m too busy Too busy to break! [Instrumental – frantic twin-guitar solo, gradually destabilizing] [Breakdown – instruments abruptly cut; quiet cassette hiss] *[Old male voice, warm and distant]* “Slow down, Tess. The song’s not going anywhere.” [Bridge – soft piano and clean guitar] Then the workshop falls to silence And the sunrise finds me there With a wrench still in my fingers And your old shirt on the chair For a moment there’s no siren No machine that needs repair Just the empty space beside me And the things I cannot bear I remember headlights breaking I remember waiting home I remember every stranger Saying I was not alone But they left when morning ended And the city carried on So I learned to keep on moving Before I learned that you were gone [Bridge Build – drums return slowly] If I stop, will I remember Every word we never said? If I rest, will all the sorrow Finally catch me in my bed? Maybe strength is not outrunning Every wound I cannot mend Maybe heroes need a moment When they don’t have to pretend [Final Chorus – triumphant but emotionally open] I was too busy to break Too scared to fall apart I filled every second Just to barricade my heart But this city can still wait While I breathe beneath its weight I can bend without erasing Every promise that I made I don’t have to burn away To bring Brightstone back someday Even fireflies need darkness Even heroes need a place Where they’re safe enough to shake Safe enough to feel the ache I’m still here, and I can break— Without breaking Without breaking all the way! [Final Post-Chorus – choir and soaring guitars] School! Work! Build! Fight! But maybe I’ll go home tonight Run! Swing! Burn! Glow! And learn there’s more to life than go [Outro – cassette hiss, quiet laughter] *[Tessa, exhausted but smiling]* “Okay, Dad. One song… then I sleep.” *[Alarm clock begins ringing]* “Oh, come on.”
