The Smoke Lets Me Begin

Instrumental Intro

(piano, 8 seconds)

Verse 1

Four walls and a kitchen light

Humming like a lonely radio

Cigarette burns slow on the sill

I watch the smoke curl up and go

Cold plates on an empty table

Chair pushed in for no one

I say your name to the ceiling

The echo stays and then it's done

Pre-Chorus

Every window's looking out on nothing

Every footstep lands alone

I keep the ash and call it company

The only warmth I've ever known

Chorus

And I scream till the smoke fills my lungs

Let the flame eat the quiet whole

Lights out but the glow still comes

Burning bright where love used to live

(Come back, come back)

I scream till the smoke fills my room

Let it choke out every lie I've told

No one at the door anymore

Just the glow where love used to live

Verse 2

Morning finds me in the same chair

Fingers yellow from the same habit

I trace your ghost across the wallpaper

Sweep the ash into the quiet

Moon holds faint through the curtain

I hold nothing in my hand

The ember winks like a old promise

Going soft across the land

Pre-Chorus

Every window's looking out on nothing

Every step rings out alone

I keep the ash and call it company

The only warmth I've ever known

Chorus

And I scream till the smoke fills my lungs

Let the flame eat the quiet whole

Lights out but the glow still comes

Burning bright where love used to live

(Come back, come back)

I scream till the smoke fills my room

Let it choke out every lie I've told

No one at the door anymore

Just the glow where love used to live

Bridge

I swore I'd not be made of smoke

Something solid in my chest

But I'm thin at the windowsill

Gone by the time it's blessed

Let me smolder soft and simple

Let the silence be my kin

I'll burn slow till morning takes me

And the smoke lets me begin

Chorus

I scream till the smoke fills my lungs

Let the flame eat the quiet whole

Lights out but the glow still comes

Burning bright where love used to live

(Come back, come back)

I scream till the smoke fills my room

Let it choke out every lie I've told

No one at the door anymore

Just the glow where love used to live