Empty Chair, Full Room

[Verse 1]
Your coffee cup still on the counter
That chipped blue mug you loved to use
Drawer full of your old receipts
Little proof that you were here too
I keep your shoes by the front door
Like you’ll walk in at any time
Say you got caught in the traffic
Ask me how I’ve been getting by
[Pre-Chorus]
I talk to the air like you’re answering
I laugh
Then I break
’cause it’s not the same
[Chorus]
There’s an empty chair in a room that’s too full
With the weight of the things I can’t say to you
I reach for your hand
Just a shadow I pull
Through the quiet
I’m still holding on to you
If love doesn’t die
Then this ache is the proof
I lost your body
But I can’t lose the truth
There’s an empty chair and a heart that you filled
I’ll be learning how to love you here
Still
[Verse 2]
Your sweater hangs off the bedpost
Sleeves all twisted
Halfway tied
I swear I feel you in the doorway
Every time I close my eyes
Friends keep saying time will fix it
Like it’s something broken on the floor
But grief’s a tide that keeps on flooding
Then leaves salt stains on every door
[Pre-Chorus]
I trace out your name on the windowpane
Watch the letters fade
But it stays in me
[Chorus]
There’s an empty chair in a room that’s too full
With the weight of the things I can’t say to you
I reach for your hand
Just a shadow I pull
Through the quiet
I’m still holding on to you
If love doesn’t die
Then this ache is the proof
I lost your body
But I can’t lose the truth
There’s an empty chair and a heart that you filled
I’ll be learning how to love you here
Still
[Bridge]
Some days I’m angry at the sunrise (why you?)
For daring to be this bright
Some nights I sleep in all the hallways
Just to feel you in the light
I keep your number in my phone
As if heaven would ever ring back
I leave a space at every table
’Cause I can’t admit you’re never coming back
[Pre-Chorus]
If you’re out there somewhere listening
Hear me breaking
Hear me whispering
[Chorus]
There’s an empty chair in a room that’s too full
With the weight of the things I can’t say to you
I reach for your hand
Just a shadow I pull
Through the quiet
I’m still holding on to you
If love doesn’t die
Then this ache is the proof
I lost your body
But I can’t lose the truth
There’s an empty chair and a heart that you filled
I’ll be learning how to love you here
Still
[Chorus]
Now this trembling voice finds a way through the dark
Every crack in me spelling out who you are
I carry your laugh
Every scar
Every scar
Every memory a light on my heart
If love doesn’t die
Then we’re somehow in tune
You’re the echo in every empty room
There’s an empty chair but you’re here in the air
In the way that I remember how you cared
[Outro]
Your coffee cup still on the counter
I touch it and breathe in the room
You’re gone from my arms
But I promise you this
I will love you for a lifetime more
Too

Big cinematic power ballad, male vocals; soft piano and distant pads in the intro, then wide drums and soaring guitars lift the chorus. Verses stay intimate with close-mic vocal and subtle strings; each chorus grows in intensity with stacked harmonies. Final chorus modulates up a half-step, adding gospel-tinged backing vocals and tom swells for a cathartic climax, then falls back to solo piano for the last line., ballad