[Intro - Staccato Synth Rhythm]
(1) Oh — Ray-mond... (staccato)
(2) Where — have — you — gone? (staccato)
[Verse 1] (intimate, 8–10 syl/line feel)
Oh Raymond, where have you been?
I'm wondering if you're still my friend
I walk the streets we used to own
Your sweater hangs like a memory on a telephone
I can't recall your laughter, can't find your key
Only the afternoons we burned into me
[Pre-Chorus] (build: filter sweeps, evolving arp)
Checked the corner cafés, the midnight deli sign
Called your number — just a lonely line
No footprints on the avenue, no echo where you stood
[Chorus] (punchy, dance-floor hook — keep it tight)
A (bars 1–4): Where have you gone, Raymond? (8 bars total = 4 bars)
B (bars 5–8): Where have you gone, Raymond? (call & response / chopped stabs)
(Chorus delivery: primary hook repeated — lead male vocal bold; harmony/call in higher male timbre; trailing breathy falsetto on final "Raymond")
[Verse 2] (wider, more urgent — maintain groove)
I miss your face, the crooked grin
Your scattered maps, the mess you lived in
I need to find you, need to know you're okay
You always had plans — did one carry you away?
[Pre-Chorus] (add hi-hat syncopation, filter open)
The mailbox by the river, the bus stop sign
A photo on my phone that keeps sliding out of time
I'm calling into static and noise, but I'm not giving up
[Verse 3 - Reveal / Clue] (8–10 syllables per line — advances the story)
Found a postcard from Marseille tucked in a coat
Two stamps, a ticket stub, a note that said "I'm afloat"
You chased a sun that called your name, or a street that smelled like salt
Maybe you left to find the light — or else you lost your fault
[Chorus] (tight hook — mapped to bars)
A (bars 1–4): Where have you gone, Raymond? (lead)
B (bars 5–8): Where have you gone, Raymond? (response / vocal chop)
(Keep parentheticals out — hook repeats cleanly; build harmony on second pass)
[Build into Beat Drop] (4-bar synth riser + percussion build)
Bar -4: filter sweep rises, arp pattern accelerates
Bar -3: snare roll, increasing hat energy, vocal ad-libs (breathy)
Bar -2: white-noise swell, pitch-up vox stabs
Bar -1: full riser culminating — hold on last semitone
[Beat Drop] *Drop on downbeat immediately before the Bridge*
*Thick sidechained bass slams in; evolving arps and chopped vocals create space*
[Bridge] (emotional, big — call to action)
Through the silence, through the doubt
I'm lifting my voice — I'm calling out
Come back to me, Raymond — come back home
Don't carry this night alone
[Chorus - Final / Dance Peak] (full production, big energy)
A (bars 1–4): Where have you gone, Raymond? (lead + stacked harmonies)
B (bars 5–8): Where have you gone, Raymond? (vocal chop echo)
C (bars 9–12): I wander through our old haunts — I need you here with me
D (bars 13–16): Where have you gone, Raymond? — breathe on the final "Raymond" (breathy falsetto)
[Tag] (short, rhythmic)
Raymond, figure it out — come back into the light
Go back to the village, find the
