[INSTRUMENTAL — tremolo guitar arpeggio, brass entering over bongos] [VERSE 1 — smooth nimble phrasing, strings moving underneath] The captain counted out the money on the engine casing slow He took his price, then took again for every mile he'd go Mara let him take it till one bundle sat beside her shoe She put that in the brown bag with the evidence [VERSE 2 — warmer vocal, melodic bass turning below] I watched a whole new future disappearing into someone else's coat The little house, the clean start, all the things I'd built from hope Mara saw my face and said, "You can still go back with him" I asked her if she'd like me to [PRE-CHORUS — rising melody, phaser guitar brightening] She didn't answer, didn't smile She held the brown bag closed awhile [CHORUS — open romantic hook, strings sweeping behind] What we didn't take What we didn't take One bag for Eli One choice to make [INSTRUMENTAL — swirling guitar solo, strings and brass trading phrases] [BRIDGE — intimate melody, brass pulsing softly] I told her I had pictured us somewhere with a yellow door She said, "You always furnish places before we're in them" I said, "You always leave before the paint is dry" She said, "I'm trying" [VERSE 3 — vulnerable melodic phrasing, guitar glowing] We stood beside the rail and let the captain count below The sea was rough, the engine coughed, the coast began to show She kept one hand upon the brown bag and one hand on my sleeve I didn't ask which one she'd keep [CHORUS — fullest romantic hook, brass and strings together] What we didn't take What we didn't take One bag for Eli One choice to make [OUTRO — tremolo guitar returning, vocal echoing] What we didn't take What we didn't take The money went We stayed
