Paper Lanterns - Lyric Video - DEMO

These are personal, emotionally driven songs—written from the heart with lyrics and concepts entirely my own. I’ve used AI-generated music and vocals as a demo tool to sketch the sound and feeling I’m aiming for. These are just that: demos. Placeholders to help bring my ideas to life and share the vision. I’m hoping to find a kindred spirit, a vocalist or musician, who sees the soul in these songs and wants to help bring them fully to life.

Part I – The Lighting
I found the old rice paper
Folded in a cedar box
And it's still stained with wax and fingerprints
From the summer we forgot
You said “some things aren’t meant to stay”
And I believed you then
So we lit the lanterns one by one
And let them float like sins

Refrain
And I keep lighting paper lanterns
For all the things that I can't hold

Part II – The Drift
You wore a shirt that wasn’t yours
I wore your silence like a scarf
We said goodbye in metaphors
And hoped it wouldn’t scar
The lake was glass, the sky was ash
You whispered, “This is grace”
But grace don’t hold you when you shake
Or wipe the tears from your face

Refrain
Still I keep lighting paper lanterns
For all the things that I can't hold

Part III – The Distance
I heard you moved somewhere with trees
Found someone who isn't gone
I still flinch at open doors
And sleep with all the lights turned on
I carved your name into a song
Then buried it in sound
But melodies are liars too
And yours keeps coming back around

Bridge
I never said I loved you
But I think you always knew
Some truths are lighter left unsaid
So they can float away from you

Final Refrain
And I still light these paper lanterns
For all the things that I can't hold
For the words I left behind me
For the warmth that turned so cold
For the ghosts I keep on leashing
Like they’re something I control
I light them up
I let them go
But they never let me go

#indiemusic
#folk
#indiefolk
#emo
#acoustic
#songwriting
#songwriter
#emotional
#lyrics
#aisongwriting

[codycoremusic]

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