[Verse 1 - just guitar and voice] I chose the kinder version of the truth The one that left you standing on your feet Told myself it was for you Which might have been the kindest lie I’d keep
You asked me once if I was staying I said I needed time to figure things And time became the answer The kind that doesn’t tell you anything
[Pre-Chorus - second guitar line enters quietly] Every choice lands somewhere Even the ones you thought were nothing Even the ones you made by standing still
[Chorus - fuller, acoustic bass and shaker enter] Cause and effect The things I said that changed the whole trajectory Cause and effect The things I swallowed that you never got to see Every word a door that opened or stayed closed Every silence its own statement Cause and effect I’ve been living in the aftermath of me
[Verse 2 - back to sparse] I held the love back like it might embarrass me Let the moment pass because I wasn’t brave And watched you slowly start to fill the distance With someone who just happened to show up that day
There’s a version of this story where I said it Where the timing was exactly what it should have been But I didn’t say it And that’s also something that I did
[Pre-Chorus] Every choice lands somewhere Even the ones wrapped in good intention Even the ones that were just fear
[Chorus] Cause and effect The things I said that changed the whole trajectory Cause and effect The things I swallowed that you never got to see Every word a door that opened or stayed closed Every silence its own statement Cause and effect I’ve been living in the aftermath of me
[Bridge - strips to just voice and guitar, most honest] I’ve spent a long time calling it protection Telling myself I spared you something real But somewhere between protecting you and protecting me I’m not sure which one I was trying to shield
Maybe both. Maybe neither. Maybe that’s the thing about cause and effect - You don’t always know the reason You just have to live inside the consequence
[Final Chorus - key lift, fuller arrangement] Cause and effect The things I chose that altered what could be Cause and effect The unlived moments that will always stay with me Every door I opened and every one I kept shut Every choice I made and didn’t Cause and effect Still here Still figuring out what it was for
[Outro - back to single guitar] I would do some of it differently. Not all of it. That’s the part that surprises me most. … Some of it I’d do the same.