Hand Back the Spotlight (Alternate Version)

[Intro: funky slap bass, shifting guitar accents]

[Verse 1: bouncing conversational]
They handed me the microphone
Said what a brilliant thing I'd done
I looked across the crowded room
At everyone who helped it bloom
The quiet hands, the late-night calls
The people who had built it all

[Pre-Chorus: ascending harmonies]
I took a breath and named them there
Let everybody have their share

[Chorus: radiant major hook]
Hand back the spotlight
Let somebody else shine
There's enough room in the heavens
For a thousand stars tonight
Their success is not my failure
Their applause is not my loss
We can lift each other higher
Without counting what it costs

[Break: fretless bass solo, syncopated guitar]

[Verse 2: warm melodic phrasing]
I told a friend how proud I was
And meant each word without a clause
Their face lit up, the whole room changed
And nothing I had lost was gained

[Bridge: half-time, vocal stacks]
Praise is not a finite thing
The more we give, the more we bring

[Final Chorus: epic cathartic lift]
Hand back the spotlight
Let everybody shine
The world grows brighter
When we celebrate each other's light

[Outro: bright guitar resolution]