Once Was (Alternate Version Lyric Video)

Описание: The Story Behind the Song 🏳️‍🌈

This version of Once Was is an intentional exploration of a bond formed in 1993. It reflects the era of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the diverging paths of two friends—one, with a Mormon bishop father, as he entered the Navy Reserves; and, the other carrying a truth in confidence.

The "neon lights" in the lyrics are a direct nod to nights spent at the Del Mar Fair, capturing the high-speed energy of a youth spent against a backdrop of subterranean feelings that took three decades to fully surface.

Lyrics:

No tracks in the sand where we once stood near.
The sea erased the shapes our youth once traced here.
I've learned to walk where your shadow won't land.
Kept my heart in my pocket, a life never planned.

Could it have been, if only we had stayed?
Could it have been? Now it just slips away...

You were the fire in a frozen dawn.
The song I forgot when the night moved on.
We could've been more than a moment's hush...
But now it's just a story that once was...

Remembering mischief 'neath the dark streetlamp.
Trading bad jokes at the edge of camp.
Your grin still lingered when the laughter withdrew.
The touch of your hand weighed more than you knew...

Could it have been the words left unsaid?
Could it have been the road taken instead?

You kindled a spark that brought warm light;
But, with morning's glow, you slipped out of sight.
I still wonder what we could have made,
If the flare of your heat didn't rapidly fade?

Could it have been the truth we couldn't name?
Could it have been the spark that lit the flame?

You were the sun that thawed frozen dawn.
The song that I've hummed when the world's gone so wrong!
We could have built something the years can't undo;
But, it's only a story I still tell of you...

I kept the ending you never saw,
My memory of you free of life's flaws.
I carry the weight, still walk in my shoes,
Wondering what once was ours to choose?

Would it have been...?

Technical Credits
Lyrics: Unapologetic Dad Rock
Composition & Performance: Suno v.5 (AI Generated)
Audio Profile: High-transient Mandolin and Subterranean Low-B 5-String Bass
Visuals: Lyric Music Video