**Acoustic Soft Pop / Modern Folk Ballad (76 BPM)** **Intro (4 bars):** Fireplace crackle fades into a warm nylon-string guitar arpeggio in open tuning. Filtered analog synth pad swells underneath with vinyl texture. **Verse 1 (4/4):** Fingerstyle guitar and double bass on long root notes. No drums — only soft brush sweeping ride cymbal once per measure. Dry, intimate close-miked tube condenser vocals. **Chorus (3/4 "flutter" waltz feel):** Wide up-strums on acoustic guitar. Live string section doubles the vocal melody a third higher. Shaker enters on off-beats, bass pulses on quarter notes. Plate reverb added to lead vocal for spaciousness. **Verse 2 (4/4):** Strings remain as legato pads. Guitar transitions from picking to full block chords played with fingertips. **Outro:** Ritardando. The last two fading guitar chords dissolve back into the opening fireplace sound.