Almost Was

Style

cinematic indie folk ballad, 75 BPM, soft male falsetto vocals, intimate and aching, fingerpicked acoustic guitar, dreamy synth pad with long release, sparse brushed snare, cello and violin swell on bridge, reverb-soaked room ambience, slow build, bittersweet melancholic, late-night rain atmosphere, ethereal, spacious mix, emotional string swell, outro fades to solo guitar and distant bowed cello

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Windshield wipers keep the time
To a song we used to know
Your jacket's still behind the seat
From a night three months ago
I'm driving past the overpass
Where you told me you were scared
Of loving someone all the way
I said I'd always be right there

[Chorus]
But we were almost was
A ghost of what we'd be
Two headlights in the fog
That never found the sea
And I still taste the rain
On every word you said
Almost was enough
Until it wasn't, then you left

[Verse 2]
The city thins to empty roads
Your name still lights my phone
A draft I'll never send again
Says "I hope you're not alone"
I memorized your breathing sounds
The way you'd hum off-key
Now silence fills the passenger side
Where you were supposed to be

[Chorus]
But we were almost was
A ghost of what we'd be
Two headlights in the fog
That never found the sea
And I still taste the rain
On every word you said
Almost was enough
Until it wasn't, then you left

[Bridge]
And maybe in some parallel lane
We didn't miss the exit sign
Maybe there's a version of us
That made it past the county line
But here the road just ends in dark
And I'm the only car in sight
Holding on to almost was
Like a match against the night

[Chorus]
But we were almost was
A ghost of what we'd be
Two headlights in the fog
That never found the sea
And I still taste the rain
On every word you said
Almost was enough
Until it wasn't, then you left

[Outro]
Almost was... almost was...
(fade with fingerpicked guitar and distant strings)