Not Like It Was

(Intro – detuned synth swell + soft cassette crackle)
(Faint echo:) “You still there?”
Static hum… silence.
(Verse 1 – hazy drum loop + lo-fi guitar plucks)
We’re chasing echoes through the rain,
Your laughter’s ghosted in the pane.
Old words floating on the wire,
Still warm, still catching fire.
Polaroids curling on the floor,
Time forgot what hearts are for.
(Pre-Chorus – glassy synth pad drift)
Every night I scroll through ghosts,
Digital love in analog posts.
You’re there, then gone, like neon dust —
I keep pretending it’s still us.
(Chorus – shimmering reverb, airy falsetto)
Hold on, the night still hums your tune,
Falling through the shades of blue.
Time moves, but I’m stuck in us —
Not like it was, not like it was.
Hearts fade where the stars once buzzed,
Tangled up in what we trust.
So close… but never enough —
Not like it was, not like it was.
(Verse 2 – muted snare + dreamy arpeggio)
Your voice is vinyl, soft decay,
Scratching lines I can’t replay.
You said forever — played it twice,
Now it skips on sacrifice.
I still see you in the chrome,
Every mirror feels like home.
(Pre-Chorus – synths shimmer and bend)
All our colors out of phase,
Lost between the nights and days.
I’m still breathing what we were —
Your name’s the blur I can’t deter.
(Chorus – layered, aching falsetto)
Hold on, the night still hums your tune,
Falling through the shades of blue.
Time moves, but I’m stuck in us —
Not like it was, not like it was.
Hearts fade where the stars once buzzed,
Tangled up in what we trust.
So close… but never enough —
Not like it was, not like it was.
(Bridge – stripped, soft piano + detuned vocals)
Whispered: Maybe love’s a frequency, fading slow…
Answering echo: “Don’t let me go.”
I tune the dial — all I find is static,
A quiet ache, cinematic.
(Final Chorus – fragile, whispered falsetto + ambient hiss)
Hold on, I still dream in blue,
Every frame still bleeds of you.
Time moves, but I can’t adjust —
Not like it was, not like it was.
(Outro – single synth tone, fading reverb)
Faint tape click.
Silence, then breath.
Gone.

Ethereal synth-pop ballad with lo-fi textures, 80s shimmer, and cinematic trap ambience, 106 BPM.