The High Fades Fast

The High Fades Fast

V1

I was twenty, cheap amps humming in a borrowed hall.

Neon buzzing like a halo on the peeling wall.

First chord hit, and every doubt in me went blind.

For one bright minute, I left every ghost behind.

V2

Crowd was thirty, but it sounded like a hundred strong.

Every broken part of me got rewired by that song.

I swore that feeling was the reason I was born.

I kissed the midnight and I never saw the storm.

PRE-CHORUS 1

I said, this is it, this is finally who I am.

If it takes my sleep and my soul, I do not give a damn.

I built a little altar out of sweat and noise and lights.

Prayed the gods of volume would remember me tonight.

CHORUS

The high fades fast, but the craving never dies.

I chase the rush again just to feel my heartbeat rise.

I keep striking matches hoping lightning still replies.

Cause the high fades fast, and the past keeps passing me by.

[ACT 2]

V3

Years got louder, bigger stages, brighter city skies.

I learned to barter every secret for a stranger’s eyes.

Hotels and hangovers, cameras in my face.

I kept on running like the finish line was some new place.

V4

Every number climbed, plays and follows, charts and shows.

Every compliment a drug the world could overdose.

I bought toys and houses, filled my days with shiny things.

But nothing matched that first night when the amp first screamed.

V5

Friends turned agents, every favor came with quiet cost.

Every quiet Sunday felt like something I had lost.

I kept my calendar like armor pressed against my chest.

If you never stop, you never have to ask if this is best.

PRE-CHORUS 2

I told myself it is just hunger, keep it under control.

But my veins kept voting for the next hit, not my soul.

I saw the warning lights, but I dimmed them with the glow.

Cause walking off the stage felt like walking into snow.

CHORUS

The high fades fast, but the craving never dies.

I chase the rush again just to feel my heartbeat rise.

I keep striking matches hoping lightning still replies.

Cause the high fades fast, and the past keeps passing me by.

[ACT 3]

V6

Then one winter in Chicago, I forgot my own first line.

Stared into the spotlight like it swallowed up my mind.

Crowd kept cheering, but it sounded like a broken screen.

All that echo, and I could not hear a thing.

V7

Backstage in the mirror, I looked famous and afraid.

Mascara from the singer smeared across my leather face.

Told the band I just was tired, just a little off my game.

But the truth was that the high and I were not the same.

V8

Doctor said it is burnout, maybe lay the bottle down.

Therapist said, try being human, not a brand in this town.

Everybody had an answer, nobody had a clue.

How to go from always more to living with enough will do.

PRE-CHORUS 3

I drove home with the radio off, just the engine and the rain.

Every mile felt like a question crashing through my brain.

If the climb is all I know, who am I when I arrive.

Or did I sell my whole life just to rent that first high.

CHORUS

The high fades fast, but the craving never dies.

I chase the rush again just to feel my heartbeat rise.

I keep striking matches hoping lightning still replies.

Cause the high fades fast, and the past keeps passing me by.

[ACT 4]

V9

I found boxes in the attic full of flyers from the start.

Photos of that tiny hall and my too big, aching heart.

I saw the kid who did not care who listened, only played.

No addiction to the numbers, just a rush to misbehave.

V10

Sat down with a notebook, wrote a list of what I own.

Every house and car and contract, every title, every phone.

Then I wrote another column, things that actually feel true.

It was shorter, but it felt like something I could hand to you.

PRE-CHORUS 4

I wrote, calling my mom back is worth more than any chart.

Letting silence in at night might just restart my heart.

But even as I wrote it, some part of me still cried.

Turn the volume up, you fool, do not let the feeling die.

CHORUS

The high fades fast, but the craving never dies.

I chase the rush again just to feel my heartbeat rise.

I keep striking matches hoping lightning still replies.

Cause the high fades fast, and the past keeps passing me by.

[ACT 5]

V11

So I started playing small rooms, no big screens, no light show.

Just a busted wooden barstool and a floor lamp’s yellow glow.

Told the crowd I am not healed, I am just trying to stay awake.

While the part of me that craves the high keeps rattling its cage.

V12

Some nights I leave the stage still hungry, wanting more.

Some nights I feel that first time fire walk me to the door.

I am learning that the quiet does not mean the dream has died.

It is just asking me to notice what survived.

PRE-CHORUS 5

If the high is just a visitor and not a place to live.

Maybe I can love the moments without giving all I have to give.

Maybe breathing in the ordinary sky is still divine.

Even if the craving whispers one more chorus, one more climb.

CHORUS

The high fades fast, but the craving never dies.

I chase the rush again just to feel my heartbeat rise.

I keep striking matches hoping lightning still replies.

Cause the high fades fast, and the past keeps passing me by.

V13

One day when the speakers crackle and the room goes finally still.

I hope I am not just a rumor chasing its own thrill.

I hope I look around and recognize this ordinary life.

The nights I held what was real instead of only chasing highs.

BRIDGE

The high fades fast, but maybe that is how I learn to see.

Every fleeting spark was never meant to be my only dream.

If I can let the craving burn without it burning me alive.

Maybe I can finally stay when the high says goodbye.

CHORUS (EXTENDED)

The high fades fast, but the craving never dies.

I chase the rush again just to feel my heartbeat rise.

I keep striking matches hoping lightning still replies.

Cause the high fades fast, and the past keeps passing me by.

Why can’t I appreciate what’s real instead of chasing new highs.

The high fades fast, but tonight I will try to love these ordinary skies.

OUTRO

Guitar hum in the dark, last echo leaving the room.

Just my footsteps in the hallway and the fading of the tune.

Somewhere in the quiet, there is a heart that still survives.

Learning how to beat without forever chasing highs.