The People We Keep

Indie folk-rock with alternative folk textures; warm, low-register female vocals, intimate and slightly husky, conversational and restrained, with understated harmonies; spacious, earthy studio production with subtle imperfections and nostalgic tape warmth; fingerpicked acoustic guitar, resonant bass, delicate mandolin, brushed percussion, and slow electric guitar swells; gentle hypnotic 78–86 BPM pulse, minor-key verses, fragile near-whispered bridge, choruses gradually widening into a cathartic final lift

[Verse 1]

There’s a version of me living
In a house I’ve never seen,
In the stories told at dinner
By somebody who knew me.
I’m the villain in a memory,
I’m the reason someone stayed,
I’m a sentence in a story
That I never got to say.

There’s a girl who thinks I’m fearless,
There’s a man who thinks I’m cruel,
There’s somebody who remembers
How I cried outside of school.
And none of them are lying,
But none of them are right,
They’re just holding little pieces
Of a person passing by.

[Pre-Chorus]

I wonder who I am to them,
The ones I’ll never see,
If they remember who I was
Or who they needed me to be.
And somewhere in the distance,
In a life I can’t explore,
I’m still standing in a doorway
That I walked through years before.

[Chorus]

Everybody’s somebody’s before,
A name they don’t say anymore,
A photograph, a passing thought,
A lesson learned, a thing they lost.
I’m still alive in memories
That time has rearranged,
Somebody out there misses me
The way I was before I changed.

And I wonder if they’d know me
If we met on some strange street,
Or if they’d walk right past the person
That I finally grew to be.

[Verse 2]

I’ve got people in my memory
Who haven’t aged a day,
Still wearing all the same old clothes,
Still knowing what to say.
There’s a boy who’s always seventeen,
A woman twenty-three,
And neither knows the stranger
They’ve become outside of me.

I’ve forgiven some for leaving,
I’ve forgotten some were kind,
I’ve made monsters out of people
Who were frightened at the time.
And somewhere I’m the monster
In a story someone tells,
While somebody else remembers
How I helped them through their hell.

[Pre-Chorus 2]

We keep each other frozen
In the moments that we knew,
Like a photograph could tell us
What a lifetime put them through.
And I wonder how much living
Happens after someone’s gone,
From the little piece of history
That we’ve kept them living on.

[Chorus]

And I wonder if they’d know me
If we met on some strange street,
Or if they’d walk right past the person
That I finally grew to be.

[Bridge]

If I’m a hundred different people
In a hundred different minds,
Am I all the things they made of me
Or something they can’t find?
Do I belong to every story
Where somebody speaks my name,
Or am I still the one who lived it
Even when the stories change?

I can’t correct their memories,
Can’t tell them what to keep,
Can’t climb inside the versions
Of me living in their sleep.
But I can let them have the person
That they knew me to be,
Without mistaking their remembrance
For the whole of what is me.

[Final Chorus]

And I wonder if they’d know me
If we met on some strange street,
Or if they’d walk right past the person
That I finally grew to be.

3200/7500

[Verse 1] There’s a version of me living In a house I’ve never seen, In the stories told at dinner By somebody who knew me. I’m the villain in a memory, I’m the reason someone stayed, I’m a sentence in a story That I never got to say. There’s a girl who thinks I’m fearless, There’s a man who thinks I’m cruel, There’s somebody who remembers How I cried outside of school. And none of them are lying, But none of them are right, They’re just holding little pieces Of a person passing by. [Pre-Chorus] I wonder who I am to them, The ones I’ll never see, If they remember who I was Or who they needed me to be. And somewhere in the distance, In a life I can’t explore, I’m still standing in a doorway That I walked through years before. [Chorus] Everybody’s somebody’s before, A name they don’t say anymore, A photograph, a passing thought, A lesson learned, a thing they lost. I’m still alive in memories That time has rearranged, Somebody out there misses me The way I was before I changed. And I wonder if they’d know me If we met on some strange street, Or if they’d walk right past the person That I finally grew to be. [Verse 2] I’ve got people in my memory Who haven’t aged a day, Still wearing all the same old clothes, Still knowing what to say. There’s a boy who’s always seventeen, A woman twenty-three, And neither knows the stranger They’ve become outside of me. I’ve forgiven some for leaving, I’ve forgotten some were kind, I’ve made monsters out of people Who were frightened at the time. And somewhere I’m the monster In a story someone tells, While somebody else remembers How I helped them through their hell. [Pre-Chorus 2] We keep each other frozen In the moments that we knew, Like a photograph could tell us What a lifetime put them through. And I wonder how much living Happens after someone’s gone, From the little piece of history That we’ve kept them living on. [Chorus] Everybody’s somebody’s before, A name they don’t say anymore, A photograph, a passing thought, A lesson learned, a thing they lost. I’m still alive in memories That time has rearranged, Somebody out there misses me The way I was before I changed. And I wonder if they’d know me If we met on some strange street, Or if they’d walk right past the person That I finally grew to be. [Bridge] If I’m a hundred different people In a hundred different minds, Am I all the things they made of me Or something they can’t find? Do I belong to every story Where somebody speaks my name, Or am I still the one who lived it Even when the stories change? I can’t correct their memories, Can’t tell them what to keep, Can’t climb inside the versions Of me living in their sleep. But I can let them have the person That they knew me to be, Without mistaking their remembrance For the whole of what is me. [Final Chorus] Everybody’s somebody’s before, A name they don’t say anymore, A photograph, a passing thought, A lesson learned, a thing they lost. I’m still alive in memories That time has rearranged, Somebody out there misses me The way I was before I changed. And I wonder if they’d know me If we met on some strange street, Or if they’d walk right past the person That I finally grew to be.

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