Where the Sound Began

[Intro: Warm Rhodes, brushed drums, distant sax hum] [Verse 1] Dust motes drift in slanting light Cold floor beneath bare feet Two pairs of eyes blink from the rafters As I lift the horn to meet The silence that’s been waiting Since yesterday’s last breath [Verse 2] Fingers find their old positions Not perfect, but they know The shape of every ache I’ve carried In this mill where nothing grows Except echoes off the limestone And the wind through broken panes [Pre-Chorus] I close my eyes— Not to hide, but to hear What the air has kept for me All these years [Chorus] THIS IS WHERE THE SOUND BEGAN! NOT IN CROWDS, BUT STONE AND SKIN! Where the mirror showed a stranger Learning how to let truth in No applause, just purring shadows And a note that wouldn’t end [Inst: Saxophone solo over deep bass and Rhodes swells] [Verse 3] The glass is cracked along one corner Shows me younger, thinner, scared But the melody keeps rising Like a bird that’s never dared To leave the nest—until it must And finds its wings are there [Bridge] One cat leaps onto the sill The other curls near my knee They don’t care if I’m trembling They just want the song to be Honest Even if it shakes the walls [Chorus] THIS IS WHERE THE SOUND BEGAN! NOT IN CROWDS, BUT STONE AND SKIN! Where the mirror showed a stranger Learning how to let truth in No applause, just purring shadows And a note that wouldn’t end [Outro: Sax fades slowly, Rhodes lingers with soft brush taps] (whispered) Let it bloom… Let it bloom…