The Lights Are Still On
[Title: THE LIGHTS ARE STILL ON] [Intro] [very distant room tone, vinyl crackle, one muted piano note] The lights are still on… [Verse 1] I left the window open To hear the city breathe The night was getting colder But I didn’t want to leave Your coffee on the table Your jacket on the chair Funny how an empty room Can make somebody there I stood beside the doorway With nothing left to say I almost called you twice Then watched the screen fade away [Pre-Chorus] Maybe we were never broken Maybe we just lost the thread Some things don’t end with a warning They disappear instead [Chorus] And the lights are still on But nobody’s home I keep walking through the rooms Like I’m looking for a ghost And the radio plays That song we used to know I don’t turn it off I don’t let it go If you’re somewhere tonight And you happen to look back I hope you don’t remember me As the man who couldn’t stay [Verse 2] [beat enters, dry kick, distorted bass] I drove past your street At a quarter after three Didn’t slow down Didn’t stop Didn’t want you seeing me There’s a photograph Still hiding in my phone Two people laughing Before we learned to be alone I deleted all the messages But I remember every word Funny how the things we bury Are the things that still get heard [Pre-Chorus] Maybe I was always running Maybe you were letting go Maybe neither one of us Was brave enough to know [Chorus] And the lights are still on But nobody’s home I keep walking through the rooms Like I’m looking for a ghost And the radio plays That song we used to know I don’t turn it off I don’t let it go If you’re somewhere tonight And you happen to look back I hope you don’t remember me As the man who couldn’t stay [Post-Chorus] [beat cuts, whispered vocal with long delay] Still on… Still on… The lights are still on… [Rap / Spoken Verse] [irregular drums, tape stop effects, vocal close to microphone] I know the road I know the turns I know the places Where the streetlight burns I know the motel At the edge of town I know the silence When the sun goes down I told myself I needed space I told myself I’d be okay I changed the number Changed the town Changed the way I say your name But every time The morning comes I feel it waiting In my chest Not a memory Not regret Just something I never left [Bridge] [no drums, only piano + distant electrical hum] What if goodbye Was never meant To make us strangers? What if the heart Doesn’t understand What the mouth explains? [long pause] I don’t miss the ending… I miss Who I was Before it. [Final Chorus] [full distorted drums, wide guitars, layered falsetto] And the lights are still on But nobody’s home I keep walking through the rooms Like I’m looking for a ghost And the radio plays That song we used to know I don’t turn it off I don’t let it go If you’re somewhere tonight And you happen to look back I hope you don’t remember me As the man who couldn’t stay [Final Hook] [everything drops except piano] The lights are still on… But I’m finally going home. [Outro] [room tone, distant traffic, tape hiss] The lights are still on… [3 seconds silence]
