[Intro]
[68 BPM, low pedal drone, soft piano, one note at a time, distant ticking clock, faint fridge hum]
[Verse 1]
[close-mic, almost spoken, breath audible]
The fridge hums low, I count the beat
A pen clicks twice, I feel it in my teeth
Someone laughs down the hall
It's in my chest, it's in the wall
[Pre-Chorus]
[cellos enter, slow ostinato, voice trembling]
I look around, they're fine, they're warm
Nobody flinches at the storm
I always thought somebody knew
That someone else was hearing too
[Chorus]
[strings rise, choir joins, French horns far away, melody opens]
Does anyone hear it as I do?
Every sound is breaking through
I can't turn it down, I can't turn it off
And no one's here to feel it too
Does anyone hear it as I do?
[Interlude]
[wordless choir, low strings ostinato, one distant horn call]
Ooh... ooh...
[Verse 2]
[piano tightens, low strings pulse, tempo pushes]
A phone, a door, a voice, a light
Someone asks, "Are you all right?"
I open up my mouth to say
And watch it all slip away
The room gets wide, the walls pull in
I fold myself to something thin
[Pre-Chorus 2]
[ostinato quickens, taiko heartbeat, voice thin, cracking]
They nod, they're kind, they try, they do
But kindness can't hear it too
I need a door, I need a wall
I need one person, that is all
[Chorus 2]
[full choir swells, brass blooms, voice cracks on the high note]
Does anyone hear it as I do?
Every sound is breaking through
I can't turn it down, I can't turn it off
Please, someone feel it too
[raw, pleading, strings climbing]
Please, someone hear it as I do
[Bridge]
[everything drops out, half-spoken, only the clock]
The clock. The hum. The breath. The chair.
A room of people, no one there
[sub bass rises, organ swell, Shepard-tone climb]
I'm trying, trying to stay here
Even if no one comes near
[Build]
[taiko enters, strings repeating, choir chanting, tempo steady at 68]
Ahh... ahh... ahh...
[Instrumental break]
[huge crescendo: choir, brass, percussion, then sudden silence, one slow chord]
[Final Chorus]
[choir far away, cello solo, voice spent, barely a whisper]
Does anyone hear it as I do?
Rain on glass, a laugh that's true
Every beauty, every bruise
[strings swell, horns rise, voice breaks open]
I hold it all, and no one knew
[Outro]
[organ drone fading, piano alone, last word breaks]
It's loud in here
And no one hears it
And I'm still here
[one last piano note, silence]