My Song - Airborne Anger

DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? [Spoken Intro – two dry, close voices; no instruments; relaxed, conversational] [Writer] Hey, you hear that new AI song I put out? [Friend] Yeah, I listened. [Writer] What’d you think of the lyrics? [Music Enters – springy slap-bass pickup, muted wah scratches, tight hi-hat; groove slides under the reply] [Friend] It was a catchy tune, but— [Full-Band Hit – distorted syncopated riff, kick and snare slam; writer becomes the sole vocalist] BUT WHAT? [Verse 1 – clipped, percussive male vocal; bass pops between short guitar stabs, ghost-note snare; irritation gathers momentum] Moved one comma six damn times. Lost a weekend finding rhymes. Cut my favorite couplet out— Didn’t fit what it’s about. Made the last verse change the first. Found a better word for hurt. You heard “AI,” called it done: “Pretty cool what those things come up with, huh?” [Transition – guitars cut; deadened bass pulse, exposed spoken vocal; sudden restraint] (flat) I wrote the words. It made the sound. Somehow my part Got edited out. [Pre-Chorus – gritty vocal climbs; bass repeats a tightening figure, guitar accents shift against the drums; pressure rises] You remember how the chorus went. I remember what the chorus meant. [Chorus – gritty melodic solo vocal; wide distorted chords punctuate a moving bass groove, hard snare; explosive release] YOU LIKED THE SONG— DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? There’s a reason that line Keeps turning in my head. You got a little rhythm. I got something off my chest. YOU LIKED THE SONG— DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? [Post-Chorus Turn – vocal absent; bass answers the guitar riff, drums catch two abrupt stops; momentum snaps forward] [Verse 2 – cocky, rhythmically elastic vocal; wah scratches, popping bass and short heavy riffs; comic swagger builds] Hit publish. Straightened up my shirt. Practiced looking shocked it worked. Had an award speech halfway penned. Thanked the folks who’d stick till the end. Stadium standing inside my head. Photographer asking which side is best. Pulitzer waiting by the penthouse door— Phone lights up. It’s the grocery store. [Transition – band cuts mid-groove; close, hopeful whisper; anticipation hangs] (low) Could still be somebody sharing it. [Pre-Chorus – impatient vocal push; clipped guitar triplets over straight funk bass, rising snare accents; fantasy starts slipping] Fifteen seconds. Tap that heart. Next guy’s dog can push a cart. [Chorus – rougher melodic solo vocal; heavy guitar stops expose each question, bass keeps moving; frustration breaks through] YOU LIKED THE SONG— DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? Did you make it to the part Where the meaning turns its head? You got a little rhythm. I got numbers to refresh. YOU LIKED THE SONG— DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? [Instrumental / Solo – vocal absent; drums and slap bass lock into a stripped groove, wah guitar enters with bends, pinch squeals and short fast runs; full band climbs, then cuts] [Bridge – low, embarrassed vocal; halftime drums, bare fingerstyle bass, sparse guitar harmonics; swagger collapses] Two hundred listens. Two little likes. Not a single comment. Man, this bites. One’s from you. The other’s mine. I checked again. The numbers are fine. I wanted somebody To notice that verse. Now I’m checking the numbers Like they’re checking my worth. Funny how “hear me” Became “where’s my due?” Wanted one real connection. Then a house with a view. [Drop – complete instrumental silence; dry spoken self-correction; comic tension] (flat) A house? (breath) Man. Finish the song. [Build – vocal rises from muttering to raw strain; bass riff returns first, toms climb, guitars enter in widening bursts; renewed urgency] Maybe you missed it. Maybe it dragged. Maybe that clever little verse Didn’t land the way I planned. Still, there’s a person Where those words began— CAN YOU HEAR HIM UNDER ALL THAT BAND? [Final Chorus – peak melodic strain; full funk-metal groove, thicker guitar accents, brief drum drop-outs; emotional release] YOU LIKED THE SONG— DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? I can laugh about the trophies And the mansion in my head. But I meant those little sentences. There’s a person in that mess. YOU LIKED THE SONG— DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? [Outro – exhausted, wry solo vocal; bass alone, dry guitar scratches return between lines; groove winds into a hard stop] Two hundred listens. Two little likes. Opened a new page. There goes tonight.