Ashes in the Spotlight

[Verse 1]
Your jacket’s still there
On the back of my chair
Coffee cup
Cold
Lip line
Ghost on the rim
I scroll through our jokes
Can’t hit “erase”
Every picture a punch
Every memory a blade
[Chorus]
I’m still screaming your name at the ceiling
Till my throat turns rust and my lungs burn out
You were thunder in my veins
Now I’m bleeding
Through the silence
Through the doubt
You’re the song I can’t stop hearing
But the stage lights all went out
[Verse 2]
We swore we’d grow old
In the back row
Laughing
Now your birthday
Is a date I just survive
I talk like you’re late
Like you’re stuck in traffic
But the truth is a truck
That hit and left me alive
[Chorus]
I’m still screaming your name at the ceiling
Till my throat turns rust and my lungs burn out
You were thunder in my veins
Now I’m bleeding
Through the silence
Through the doubt
You’re the song I can’t stop hearing
But the stage lights all went out
[Bridge]
Why’d you leave your boots
By the front door stairs
Like you’d crash in tonight
Drop your keys
Pull my hair (hey)
If there’s some backstage beyond this pain
Kick that door down
Call my name
[Chorus]
I’m still screaming your name at the ceiling
Till my throat turns rust and my lungs burn out
You were thunder in my veins
Now I’m bleeding
Through the silence
Through the doubt
You’re the song I can’t stop hearing
But the stage lights all went out
[Outro]
[Music drops to acoustic guitar and piano]
So I set one chair
And an empty plate
Say the lines you loved
Stay up too late
If you’re somewhere near
In the dark
In the air
Sing along
Sing along
To the hurt we share (ooh)
Every night I play this part
’Til your echo fills my heart

rock, Epic metal ballad: male vocals over slow, crushing half-time riffs that build into thrash/speed-metal double-time sections. Verses ride chugging palm-muted guitars and tom-heavy drums, chorus opens with soaring chords and gang-style harmonies. Mid-song extended dual-guitar solo section evolves from melodic bends to rapid-fire shred runs. Final minute strips down to acoustic guitar and soft piano, voice dropping to an intimate near-whisper, then one last ringing chord., acoustic, ballad, metal, speed metal, thrash metal, hard rock