Beautiful Ache

[Intro - nylon guitar and soft Rhodes, 8 bars]

Verse 1
There's a small blue room inside my chest
where the rain has come to stay.
It taps on the glass all night long,
and it won't be sent away.
I water the silence, I dim the lamp,
I tell my heart to rest,
but it beats like a slow, sad samba
against the walls of my chest.

Chorus
Ai, dor bonita, sweet and slow,
you're the ache I can't let go.
Every beat a soft goodbye,
a little moon in a broken sky.
Dor bonita, stay a while,
hurt me gently, make me smile.

Verse 2
I set two cups out on the table
out of habit, out of grace.
The morning light comes through the curtains
looking for your face.
I laugh at the songs that used to break me,
now I hum along instead,
because the pain has learned to dance
in the quiet of my head.

Chorus
Ai, dor bonita, sweet and slow,
you're the ache I can't let go.
Every beat a soft goodbye,
a little moon in a broken sky.
Dor bonita, stay a while,
hurt me gently, make me smile.

[Instrumental - nylon guitar solo over walking bass, 16 bars]

Verse 3
They say that time will mend it all,
but time is slow and shy.
So I sit with the hurt like an old friend
and we watch the evening die.
No anger left, no blame to give,
just the salt upon my tongue,
and a love that sang its whole song out
before the night was done.

Bridge - sparse guitar, whispered vocal
Maybe the heart is a guitar
that only sings when it's been torn.
Maybe every crack lets in the light,
and that's how songs are born.

[Instrumental - muted trumpet or flute answers the guitar, 16 bars]

[Final Chorus - fuller, gentle harmony vocals]
Ai, dor bonita, sweet and slow,
you're the ache I can't let go.
Every beat a soft goodbye,
a little moon in a broken sky.
Dor bonita, stay a while,
hurt me gently, make me smile.

[Outro - fingerpicked guitar, whispered vocal, slow fade]
Dor bonita... dor bonita...
still I sing you, soft and low.

End