[Intro: rain on windows, distant thunder, ambient textures] [Male lead, intimate] Midnight falls like broken glass, I’m alone with ghosts and pages from the past. A dying fire paints the floor, And every shadow whispers, “Lenore.” [Soft female choir] Lenore... Lenore... [Verse 1: pop-rock pulse male baritone lead begins] I hear a tapping at my door, So faint, then louder than before. I tell my heart, “It’s just the storm, Some stranger lost and needing warmth.” But when I open up the room, There’s only dark, there’s only gloom. I call her name into the air, And hear it echo from nowhere. [Pre-Chorus: violins rise] Lenore, are you beyond the night? Are you a memory or light? I reach for peace, I reach for more, But silence answers from the door. [Chorus: female choir, dramatic swell] Nevermore, nevermore, A black wing beating at my door. Nevermore, nevermore, Love won’t return the way it was before. Nevermore, nevermore, The shadow knows what I’m searching for. Nevermore. [Verse 2: stronger drums, rock energy] Then at the window, thunder cries, A shape breaks through the bruised black sky. A raven lands above the door, Like something born from ancient war. No bow, no fear, no soft retreat, Just burning eyes and taloned feet. I laugh because I’m scared inside, Then ask the dark where it resides. “What name is yours, from what black shore?” The raven speaks: Nevermore. [Chorus: bigger, pop-rock hook] Nevermore, nevermore, A black wing beating at my door. Nevermore, nevermore, Love won’t return the way it was before. Nevermore, nevermore, The shadow knows what I’m searching for. Nevermore. [Bridge: breakdown, ambient textures, raven cries] [Half-time feel] Maybe it learned that word from sorrow, Maybe it stole it from tomorrow. Maybe some broken master cried it Until the night itself memorized it. [Female lead, rising desperation] Is there a cure for grief like fire? Is there a heaven past desire? Will I hold Lenore again, Beyond the reach of death and pain? [Choir whispers] Nevermore... Nevermore... [Final Build: violins, thunder, drums intensify] I scream at the bird, “Are you devil or sign? Are you fate, are you fear, are you only my mind? Tell me there’s mercy, tell me there’s dawn, Tell me this ache won’t go on and on!” [Operatic climax] But the raven only watches me, Still as stone above the door. And all the room falls under wings, Under one word forevermore. [Final Chorus: full band, female choir soaring] Nevermore, nevermore, A black wing beating at my door. Nevermore, nevermore, Love won’t return the way it was before. Nevermore, nevermore, The shadow owns what I’m living for. Nevermore. [Outro: rain, fading choir, distant raven cry] Now it sits there, never leaving, Eyes like nightmares, always dreaming. And my soul beneath that shadow Rises never— Nevermore.
