The Three-Year Echo

[Intro]
(A single, raw acoustic guitar picks a simple, repeating pattern. A lone, sustained piano note hangs in the air.)

[Verse 1]
The calendar page is a paper-thin lie
Says the world kept spinnin', says the years went by
But I found your recipe for apple pie today
Flour on the edges, where your fingerprints stayed
A coffee cup stain and a cursive so free
Felt like you were standin' right there next to me
And the stillness in this kitchen is a heavy, loaded gun
Three years tomorrow... feels like day one.

[Chorus]
(A slow, deliberate kick drum stomp and a tambourine hit enter)
Oh, you're not a ghost, you're not a whisper in the night
You're the proof, you're the truth, you're the brilliant morning light
You're the phantom limb I'm reaching for, the silence in the sound
You're the love I thought I buried, still growin' in the ground
It's the three-year echo, and it's never been so clear
You're not gone, you're just not here.

[Verse 2]
The cicadas are hummin' that old familiar tune
This Saturday afternoon in late September's swoon
I opened up the cedar chest, just to touch a photograph
And on that wool scarf, I swear I heard you laugh
It's not a memory, it's more like a scar
A beautiful reminder of everything we are
And this ache in my soul, it's a compass, it's a friend
It just points me back to you again and again.

[Chorus]
(Energy builds slightly. Faint, earnest gang vocals can be heard on the word "proof")
Oh, you're not a ghost, you're not a whisper in the night
You're the proof, you're the truth, you're the brilliant morning light
You're the phantom limb I'm reaching for, the silence in the sound
You're the love I thought I buried, still growin' in the ground
It's the three-year echo, and it's never been so clear
You're not gone, you're just not here.

[Bridge]
(Music swells. A driving drum beat enters, atmospheric electric guitar rings out. Vocal becomes a powerful belt.)
So let the world keep movin', let it turn and turn and turn!
There are lessons in the ashes of the bridges that you burn!
And I won't run from your shadow, I will stand here in the grace!
And I'll find my North Star in the lines of your face!

[Chorus]
(Full energy. Loud, shouted gang vocals join in. Stomps are heavy. Guitars are strummed hard.)
OH, YOU'RE NOT A GHOST, YOU'RE NOT A WHISPER IN THE NIGHT!
YOU'RE THE PROOF, YOU'RE THE TRUTH, YOU'RE THE BRILLIANT MORNING LIGHT!
YOU'RE THE PHANTOM LIMB I'M REACHING FOR, THE SILENCE IN THE SOUND!
YOU'RE THE LOVE I THOUGHT I BURIED, STILL GROWIN' IN THE GROUND!
IT'S THE THREE-YEAR ECHO, AND IT'S NEVER BEEN SO CLEAR!
YOU'RE NOT GONE, YOU'RE JUST NOT HERE!

[Outro]
(Music drops back down to just the acoustic guitar and the lone piano note)
You're the echo...
Yeah, you're the echo...
You're not gone...
You're just... here.
(Final guitar string pluck fades to silence)