Performance Direction: To be performed by a male singer with a husky/raspy timbre (thin breath on high notes, gravel on low notes). Use short, slightly breathy syllables for the husky effect; push rasp on consonants and keep long notes warm and close-mic.
Production Notes (brief): Tempo ~95 BPM. Groove: one-drop reggae backbone with dembow-patterned percussion layered on top. Offbeat guitar skank, deep sub bass, syncopated snare/dembow hits. Vocal phrasing: short breaths on phrased lines, sustain with gentle rasp on held vowels; diction intimate and warm.
(Intro)
Lanterns dip like slow moons, the tide hums in reply,
Salt-slick skin, starlight lying soft on your shoulder.
A low bass breathes the night — we answer with our feet.
(Verse 1)
Lantern glow traces the curve of your jaw, amber and slow,
Footprints write a secret language in the warm sand below.
Your laugh pulls the tide toward me, a tide I want to follow,
Shoulder-stealing starlight, fingers learning every hollow.
(Pre-Chorus)
Lean in close, feel the skank push the air between us,
Dembow taps like quickened steps, the night unwraps around us.
Short syllables, close and low — the rasp rides every vow,
We map the dark in tiny burns of breath; we show each other how.
(Chorus)
Dance under the stars, hold me till dawn.
Dance under the stars, hold me till dawn.
(Repeat)
(Verse 2)
Neon reflections ripple across the black-water seam,
Your shoulder holds a galaxy, slow and steady as a dream.
Lantern smoke, a coconut breeze, the world reduced to sway,
We move in half-beat mosaics, colors stitched in gray.
(Pre-Chorus)
Drop the world on an offbeat, let the one-drop guide the bend,
Dembow underlines the pulse — a push that never ends.
Breathe small and close, let the rasp do most of the talking,
Every glance a tide that pulls, every step our walking.
(Chorus)
Dance under the stars, hold me till dawn.
Dance under the stars, hold me till dawn.
(Repeat)
(Call & Response / Chant)
Leader: Dance, dance beneath the moonlit sky.
Crowd: Dance, never stop — keep moving, keep alive.
Leader: Feel the sand, the lanterns, the pull of the sea.
Crowd: Feel the pull — come closer, stay with me.
(Bridge)
Starlight writes your name like a map across your shoulder,
Lantern embers float slow — the secret grows bolder.
Salt on your lip, the hush of tide, a promise in the hush,
We fold the dark into our hands and let the minutes rush.
(Chorus — Variation / Hook Tightened)
Dance under the stars, hold me till dawn.
Dance under the stars, hold me till dawn.
(Short Tag)
Dance under the stars — stay close till morning comes.
(Outro)
Under velvet sky we learn how quiet heat can burn,
Lantern smoke and ocean hush — remember when it's dark.
We dance away the night till dawn, tethered to the groove,
One-drop heart, dembow breath — this rhythm is our move.
End Notes (concise): Keep chorus instantly singable and repetitive for hook strength. Emphasize the fusion: reggae’s offbeat warmth with reggaeton’s dembow energy.
