Crush Not To Be

[Verse 1]
Back row of the classroom
You laughed with your friends
Looked right through me
Pen caps and daydreams
Spelling your name in the margins slowly
You walked past in the hallway
Your perfume stayed
But you were leaving
I played it off like nothing
But my chest was beating
Bleeding
[Chorus]
You’re my crush not to be
Like a song that cuts off in the best part
You’re my almost
My maybe
But I never even made it to your heart
I’m screaming your name in a crowd
You don’t even turn around to see
Yeah
My heart’s wide open
For a crush not to be
(crush not to be, yeah)
[Verse 2]
Friday night
Metal on the radio
I’m staring at the ceiling
Rewinding that hello
Your eyes
That crooked smile
Stayed stuck in my head for a long
Long while
Everybody’s out there
Kissing in the dark by the cheap arcade
I’m here with my records
Trying to turn this ache into a flame
[Chorus]
You’re my crush not to be
Like a song that cuts off in the best part
You’re my almost
My maybe
But I never even made it to your heart
I’m screaming your name in a crowd
You don’t even turn around to see
Yeah
My heart’s wide open
For a crush not to be
(crush not to be, whoa)
[Bridge]
Did you ever see me?
Or was I just another face in the yearbook line
I still see you laughing
Freeze-frame in my mind
I know I gotta let go
But it’s hard erasing the scenes
Of a love I never had
Still tearing at the seams  (yeah)
[Chorus]
You’re my crush not to be
Like a song that cuts off in the best part
You’re my almost
My maybe
But I never even made it to your heart
I’m screaming your name in a crowd
You don’t even turn around to see
Still my heart keeps hoping
For a crush not to be
(crush not to be, not to be)

metal, Big 80s hair-metal ballad, male vocals: clean arpeggiated guitars and toms in the verse, huge chorus with stacked harmonies and soaring lead. Snare with gated reverb, melodic lead guitar answering vocal lines. Final chorus key-lift with a wailing solo tailing the last hook.