Folk ballad with a steady 6/8 sway, picked acoustic guitar, balalaika flourishes, frame drum heartbeat, and warm choral responses; verse stays intimate and narrative, pre-chorus widens with rising harmony, chorus lands on a strong chantable refrain. Lead vocal is close-mic and earthy with doubled hook lines, group voices answer the anchor phrase, a fiddle swell and handclaps lift transitions, and the mix feels wide, wooden, and sunlit, folk