By a Thread

The objective here was to write a ballad with a melody that traversed over FOUR lines.

[Em]worn-out love [Am]scratched and thin
[G]empty hole with [Em]tangled fringe
[C]single thread [G]hanging on
[Dm]tied to my heart and [Am]strung along

promise stuck to heartache
afraid leaving is a mistake
pinning down only leads
to falling apart at the seams

[chorus]
[C] hanging [Dm]by [C]a [Am]thread
[G]broken love is all that’s [Am]left
[C]hanging [Dm]by [C]a [Am]thread
[G]break it off [Am]instead
[G]hanging, hanging, hanging
[G]by [Am]a [C]thread

my world is unraveling
soon left without anything
I cut the thread unafraid
my heart is free but you won’t go away

[chorus]

10/27/25

worn-out love scratched and thin
empty hole with tangled fringe
single thread hanging on
tied to my heart and strung along

promise stuck to heartache
afraid leaving is a mistake
pinning down only leads
to falling apart at the seams

[chorus]
hanging by a thread
broken love is all that’s left
hanging on
by a thread
hanging by a thread
break it off instead
hanging on, hanging on, hanging on
by a thread

my world is unraveling
soon left without anything
I cut the thread unafraid
my heart is free but you won’t go away

[chorus]

pin cushion, with caution, cotton, thick woolen, it pushes, this passion,
dreams, needs, please, leads, believes,

10/13/25 take to NSAI, but the recording is just a bass bluegrass GCD on it.

comments were favorable, except it needs a new melody, of course. Suggesting a BALLAD and put the melody over all 4 lines (not just 2). Try a minor key.

worn-out love scratched and thin LIKED THIS WHOLE VERSE
a hole with tangled fringe
single thread hanging on
tied my heart and strung along

promise stuck to heartache BRING BACK THE THREAD LINGO
afraid leaving is a mistake
refusing to calls it quits
stick around for another kiss

[chorus]
hanging by a thread
broken love is left
hanging on COULD BE HANGING ON, HANGING ON, HANGING ON
by a thread
hanging by a thread
break it off instead
hanging on
by a thread MELODY CAN GO UP HERE

my world is unraveling LIKED THIS
soon left withOUT ANYTHING
cut the thread unafraid
my heart is free but you won’t go away

[chorus]

10/12/25 Try making the song title “Hanging On By A Thread”? Now it’s about her hanging on instead of snipping it off in empowerment. start noodling with Barry’s song to see if it can evolve into it’s own melody.
It’s about her ready to end it, but he keeps hanging on which makes it difficult to walk away.

worn-out love scratched and thin
a hole with tangled fringe
single thread hanging on
tied my heart and strung along

promise stuck to heartache
afraid leaving is a mistake
refusing to calls it quits
stick around for another kiss

[chorus]
hanging by a thread
broken love is left
hanging on
by a thread
hanging by a thread
break it off instead
hanging on
by a thread

my world is unraveling
soon be left with nothing
cut the thread unafraid
my heart is free but you won’t go away

[chorus]

can’t mend your mistake
ugly seams tempting me
to cut what I’d rather keep

10/11/25

ok, not as bad as I thought, except the chorus is non existent. Make more about human connection than being a seamstress. change the word cloth? the heart was cut out of a human? what is the chorus about really. wishing ‘you’ would cut it loose means it’s not responsible of you to keep stringing me along in a relationship that you are not as vested in as I am. Is the song about you or about me? How do I feel about it? Do I get liberated by taking action or am I just crying about you? That SUIT don’t fit me anymore. YOU don’t fit me anymore. fit, commit, seams split, No. the first 2 verses are not about a fit, it’s about being strung along and dangling hope and hanging on.

woven love worn too thin
I can’t fix tangled fringe
single thread hanging on
dangle hope string me along

you refuse to calls it quits
or cut loose a quick snip
strained edges forcing me
to break off I’d rather keep

threadbare love
nothing’s left
holding on by a thread

pulled the thread broken and frayed
heart now free you won’t go away

promise stretched ’til it breaks

09/30/25

shape of a heart
cut from cloth
leaves a hole
the heart is gone

It fell to the floor
one thread hangs on
dangling hope
stringin’ along

[chorus]
cut it loose cut it loose
one quick snip would call it quits
cut it loose cut it loose
but you refuse to cut it loose

haphazard cut
forces me
to break off
what I’d rather keep

pull the slack
broken and frayed
heart now free
but you won’t go away

[chorus]

misuse, truth, groups, shoots, reduced, loops, proof,
stitch
a hold, connected, single, join, leash, attached, oblivious, blind, no attention to detail, no tie up loose ends, clean break, you have the scissors to make a clean cut yet you leave it up to me to break it off resulting in a fraying instead of severing. Cut off, hack off, cleave, split, break off, tear off, divide, to end.
snag, slack, lack,
pulling on the slack
I hit a snag
keep, speak, technique, peak, weak, street, see, repeats, beat, cheats, leash,
say, fray, away, play, stay,
caused a snag
the heart is frayed

[G]Shape of a heart
cut from cloth
leaves a hole
the heart is gone

[C]It fell to the floor
one thread hangs on
[G]dangling hope
stringin’ along

[D]one quick snip
[C]calls it quits
[D]you refuse
[C]to cut it loose

[chorus]
[G]cut it loose cut it loose
cut it loose cut it loose

[G]jagged cut
forces me
to break off
what I’d rather keep

[C]

[D]pull the slack
[C]broken and frayed
[D]heart now free
[C]but you won’t go away

[chorus]