Breathing In the Dark

(Intro: A lonely, resonant acoustic guitar picking pattern, accompanied by a low, humming analog synth pad that feels like the quiet ambient hum of a starship hull)
​
(Verse 1)
Starlight bleeding through a cold white pane
Counting heartbeats on a rust-red frame
Millions of miles from a sunrise known
In a tin-can cradle floating all alone
The coffee is bitter, the air is thin
Looking at the dust where the stars begin
Every bulkhead whispers of a world left behind
Just a ghost in the machinery of humankind
​
(Chorus)
And we’re breathing in the dark, far from home
Just an echo in the shell, skin and bone
Is anybody listening out past the gate?
Or are we just running from a mirrored fate?
Hold the line, let the engine hum
Waiting on a dawn that might never come
​
(Verse 2)
Compasses spinning in a dead-weight sky
Watching dead suns burn out and die
Got a deck of old memories, worn to the thread
Praying for the living, talking to the dead
The hull takes a shudder, the ancient gears grind
Leaving our history so far behind
If the gate opens up to a green-grass shore
Would we even remember what we’re fighting for?
​(Chorus)
And we’re breathing in the dark, far from home
Just an echo in the shell, skin and bone
Is anybody listening out past the gate?
Or are we just running from a mirrored fate?
Hold the line, let the engine hum
Waiting on a dawn that might never come
​
(Bridge)
(The acoustic guitar grows more urgent; a mournful cello swells like a distant nebula)
And the interface glows in the pale blue light
Mapping the unknown in the endless night
We’re the last of the line, we’re the spark in the dust
Carrying a dream like a sacred trust
If the ship keeps rolling through the silent deep
We’ll keep the vigil that the stars won’t keep
​(Instrumental Breakdown)
(Fingerpicked arpeggios intertwining with a haunting, droning cello and a slow, heavy heartbeat drum)
​
(Chorus)
And we’re breathing in the dark, far from home
Just an echo in the shell, skin and bone
Is anybody listening out past the gate?
Or are we just running from a mirrored fate?
Hold the line, let the engine hum
Waiting on a dawn that might never come
​
(Outro)
(The instrumentation strips away piece by piece, leaving just a single acoustic guitar note and the faint, humming synth drone fading into absolute silence)
Just a hum in the dark...
Far from home...
Let the engine rest.
(Fade out)