[Verse 1 - HER] You said, "Dinner's on me." I heard, "No strings attached," and reached for my coat at the door. Every trap I knew came smiling, saying, "What are you worried for?" If you want me here, say you want me. Put every string on the table. Give me a choice--and I'll stay. [Verse 2 - HIM] Then stay because I want you staying. Leave if the wanting gets tight. The bread took rain, the wine took years, and I took all week to get this right. I brought old knots and bad habits, a heart that can pull too hard. But nothing here is hiding its hunger. The strings are the honest part. [Pre-Chorus] HER: Say it plain. HIM: I want you. HER: Name the risk. HIM: You could hurt me. HER: Name the debt. HIM: None. A debt would own you. HER: Name the cost. HIM: Time, truth, and the chance of hurt. BOTH: Good. Pour the wine. HER: The wine can wait. Come here. (It waited well.) [Chorus] Everything real comes with strings attached-- only traps pretend they don't. Show me yours, I'll show you mine; we'll braid what holds, untie what chokes. Every kiss, every key, every open door leaves a thread back through the dark. Say what it wants. Say what it costs. The strings are the honest part. [Verse 3] HER: What if tonight implies tomorrow? HIM: Only if tomorrow chooses us. HER: What if the rhythm changes? HIM: Then we listen. Then we slow. HER: It changed. Not tonight. HIM: Then tonight, the answer's no. (He lets go. The music breathes.) The wine stayed open. So did the door. BOTH: No old answer owns the next one. Love has strings, but not a leash. Every door stays yours to close. [Bridge] HIM: First bite cut a crescent in the garden. HER: Same small moon in every grin. BOTH: We didn't choose the hunger handed down, but we choose what we hide within. HER: Let me count your teeth, love. HIM: I'll show you every one of mine. BOTH: I'd rather kiss a declared danger than starve on a sugar lie. [Breakdown] HER: What do I owe for dinner? HIM: Nothing you didn't choose. HER: What do you want tomorrow? HIM: The truth. HIM: And maybe you. [Final Chorus] Everything real comes with strings attached-- and ours are where we both can see. You showed me yours, I showed you mine; we braided a lifeline, not a leash. We said what we want. We named the cost. The strings are the honest part. [Outro] No strings? No thanks. Leave the truth attached.
