Copyright ©️ 2025 by 
Dutchufo4real

It’s quiet now.
Not empty.
Just listening.

The room is breathing with the piano.
Every note arrives slowly,
like it’s remembering where it came from.

I don’t need to explain this.
You’re already here.

Time moves differently tonight.
It bends.
It waits.

Some moments never leave.
They just learn how to stay quiet.

If this sounds like longing,
it’s only because love is patient.

Stay with me a little longer.
Let the last note fade on its own.

When the silence returns,
it will still be ours.

Stay With Me (Quietly)

Copyright ©️ 2025 by 
Dutchufo4real

Verse 1
The year’s been long, the nights grew cold
The world moved fast, the days grew old
But down this street, I know the way
Where love still waits for Christmas Day

There’s laughter in the window glow
Familiar songs on soft radio
A table set, the fire’s warm
And suddenly, I’m home again

Pre-Chorus
Every road I’ve ever known
Leads me back to you

Chorus
When the lights come home for Christmas
And the snow falls soft and slow
Every heart remembers something
Only Christmas seems to know
All the years, they fade behind us
Every wish feels close and true
It’s Christmas when the lights come home
And I come home to you

Verse 2
Old photographs on mantle frames
Still whisper all our childhood names
The same old jokes, the same old cheer
Somehow mean a little more this year

The world outside can wait tonight
There’s peace wrapped up in candlelight
And in your smile, I finally see
What this season’s always meant to me

Pre-Chorus
Every dream I held onto
Leads me back to you

Chorus
When the lights come home for Christmas
And the bells ring soft and low
Every soul finds what it’s missing
In the warmth we always know
All the years, they fade behind us
Every wish feels close and true
It’s Christmas when the lights come home
And I come home to you

Bridge
If time could ever let us stay
Right here, I’d never ask for more
Just hold this moment, let it play
Like Christmases from years before

Final Chorus
When the lights come home for Christmas
And the night is dressed in gold
Every promise feels eternal
Every story’s gently told
All the love we’ve ever known
Shines brighter than the view
It’s Christmas when the lights come home
And I come home to you

Outro
So let the year go, let it fade
This is the wish I always knew
It’s Christmas when the lights come home
And I come home to you

When the Season Comes Around

Copyright ©️ 2025 by 
Dutchufo4real

Verse 1
We were young enough to think
The nights would never end
Talking slow in borrowed rooms
Calling strangers friends
The radio was low and warm
The world outside felt wide
Every dream was half-believed
Every truth we tried to hide

Pre-Chorus
Time was standing in the doorway
With its hand upon the light
We didn’t see it waiting
Till it turned and said goodnight

Chorus
We were here for a while
That’s the part I try to keep
All the laughter, all the miles
All the promises we’d sleep
Life moved on like it always does
Soft and sudden, just the same
But I still hear you call my name
From when we were here for a while

Verse 2
We said love would never change
We said it like a vow
But days grow heavy on the heart
And years don’t ask you how
I watched you learning how to leave
While I learned how to stay
Neither one of us was wrong
We just walked a different way

Pre-Chorus
There’s no sin in growing older
No shame in letting go
Some things aren’t meant to last
They’re just meant to be known

Chorus
We were here for a while
Long enough to feel it all
Every rise and every fall
Every writing on the wall
Life moved on like it always does
Quiet, stubborn, undefined
But I still carry you with mine
From when we were here for a while

Bridge
Now the house is full of echoes
Of the people that I’ve been
I see your face in passing moments
More like family than sin
If I could speak to who I was
I’d tell him not to race
Some loves aren’t meant to save your life
They just help you find your place

Final Chorus
Yes, we were here for a while
That’s enough to understand
That time is not the enemy
It just moves us hand in hand
Life keeps asking us to change
Even when it breaks our smile
But I’m grateful that I knew you
When we were here for a while

Outro
The years keep going
So do I
But part of me still lives back there
Just for a while

We Were Here for a While

Copyright ©️ 2025 by 
Dutchufo4real

Verse 1

A man counts change beside the door
A train exhales and pulls away
Someone’s late for something small
That still feels big today

A window shows another life
That looks a lot like mine
We nod like we’ve been here before
Just killing time

Chorus

It’s the things we pass
That stay the longest
The words we never try to say
Every day feels ordinary
Till it’s gone away

It’s the things we pass
While looking forward
Like there’s something else to find
But the moment’s always standing
Right in front of time

Verse 2

A woman waits with tired eyes
Her letter folded in her hand
She reads it like a memory
She doesn’t understand

The radio keeps talking fast
About the shape we’re in
I turn it down and listen close
To where I’ve been

Chorus

It’s the things we pass
That stay the longest
The words we never try to say
Every day feels ordinary
Till it’s gone away

It’s the things we pass
While looking forward
Like there’s something else to find
But the moment’s always standing
Right in front of time

Bridge

If there’s a reason for the noise
I haven’t heard it yet
I’m just trying to live my life
Without too much regret

Outro

The street goes quiet, then begins
Like it always does
I walk along with borrowed thoughts
And call it love

Things We Pass

Copyright ©️ 2025 by 
Dutchufo4real

(soft piano, sparse notes)
I learned to walk where the light was thin
Rooms full of echoes, names worn in
I talk to shadows like they’re still here
Some answers never come, just years

(piano adds gentle movement)
I watched my friends turn into photographs
Smiles frozen from a different past
Some left early, some too fast
Some I miss, some I never asked

(pause, piano breathes)
I carry them quietly
In the spaces I don’t say

(piano deepens, low register)
I hear my mother when the night gets loud
My father in the way I bow
I tried to be what they believed
But life don’t bend for broken dreams

(slight swell)
I’ve loved so hard it hurt to breathe
Gave my whole heart recklessly
Every time I thought, “this is it”
Love slipped away, but I stayed in it

(piano swells then pulls back)
I watched it fade, I watched it burn
Still I loved, still I learned

(very intimate, almost whispered)
If you ask me who I am
I’m the scars, not the plan
I bent, I broke, I lost my way
But when it mattered…

(final piano rise, then resolve)
I stayed

(long piano outro, fading into silence)

I Stayed

Parallel States

Cantamos Con el Corazón de Cuba

Where Their Music Lives

Adagio cantabile

Hold Fast to the Promise

Hi, 

I am Ray Charles a Dutch composer and hope you enjoy my music.


Thanks for listening and support on my music.

*** Be strong, focussed and creative and make music from your heart **

Cheers
Ray

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