[Verse 1 - violin and piano, sparse, walking tempo] I walk the kind of road that has no name That leads you somewhere only pain has been The wound still open but the fever’s gone I’m learning how to breathe in between
The air is different now, I don’t know why Like something lifted from behind my ribs I don’t know who I am outside of this But I keep walking, learning how to live
[Pre-Chorus - she arrives] And then I find it at the edge of somewhere Burned and broken, scattered on the ground A door still standing though the walls gave into nothing Something pulls me — I don’t turn around
[Chorus - warm, searching, recognition without understanding] I know this place I don’t know how, I know this place These walls remember something I’ve forgotten A life before the dark, before the chase I know this place My feet have stood here once, in a different name I know this place
[Verse 2 - tender, deliberate] There’s a coat beneath the ash still holding shape A letter, almost whole — I smooth the fold I pick them up the way you hold what’s fragile The way you hold what someone else called home
I find a wooden box and lay them in it I don’t know why but this feels right to do Whatever drove her out, whatever took her — I’ll keep these safe, the way nobody knew
[Pre-Chorus 2 - memory flash] And there it is — a window, softer air A light above a crib, someone nearby Before the voices came and pulled me under I think — I think I used to live somewhere like —
[Chorus] I know this place I don’t know how, I know this place These walls remember something I’ve forgotten A life before the dark, before the chase I know this place My feet have stood here once, in a different name I know this place
[Bridge - quiet, almost to herself] I don’t know who you are Whoever left this here I don’t know where you’ve gone Or why you disappeared
But something in me says — Take care of what is left And stay until it answers
(soft breath)
I’ll stay.
[Final Chorus - settled] I know this place I feel it now, I know this place Not everything remembered comes with language Sometimes the body holds what time erased I know this place I’ll stay here until I find the name I know this place …I know this place
[Outro - piano and harp, almost spoken] One thing at a time One breath, one memory I’ll piece it back together This place will wait for me