The Echo

Say

it once

Hear

it twice

Every answer Comes back

disguised

{one audible breath, distant vocal

delay, chiming guitar harmonics,

haunted piano chords}

I followed your voice through an empty hall

Watched every shadow climb the wall I called your name just to

hear it return A little more distant,

a little more blurred The door behind me disappeared

The farther I walked,

the closer you felt

I couldn’t tell if you were near

Or if I was only hearing myself {soft sub-bass enters,

restrained electronic percussion, tight rim clicks} Every word comes back changed

Every silence sounds the same I keep looking for the source

But it only calls my name {vocal delay builds,

subtle tuning, smooth note slides,

tension rising} The echo won’t let me go

It follows wherever I run Turning everything I know

Into what we could’ve become The echo won’t let me go

Your voice is under my own

I keep trying to find the way out But the echo keeps

leading me home Let me go

Let me go

The echo won’t let me go {thunderous live toms explode,

distorted guitars, shimmering cymbals,

soaring unisex vocals} I found a room filled up with sound A

thousand versions spinning around Some said stay and some said leave Some

sounded more like you than me I covered my ears,

but underneath The rhythm kept moving inside my teeth The quiet cracked,

the ceiling shook

And every voice became a hook

{abrupt drop back to sub-bass,

whispered responses, rhythmic

vocal chopping}

Was it you who called me back?

Was it me who answered first?

Did the memory make the wound

Or did the wound rehearse the words?

If I finally reach the silence Will I know which voice is

mine? Or will everything we buried

Keep repeating through the night?

{cinematic strings swell, pitched-down harmonies,

building storm of sound}

Your voice

My voice

No difference No choice

Come close

Don’t go

Let me—

Let me go {rhythm drops out completely,

dry close-up vocal fragments,

long delay throws, eerie silence}

The echo won’t let me go

It follows wherever I run

Turning everything I know

Into what we could’ve become

The echo won’t let me go

Your voice is under my own

I stopped trying to find the way out Now the echo is

all that I know

Let me go

Let me go

The echo won’t let me— {all instruments peak,

towering walls of guitar,

sweeping strings, massive choir backing,

explosive intensity} Go…

Go… Go… {instruments vanish instantly,

leaving only a single voice fragment repeating in deep reverb,

fading to absolute quiet}