Song
Empty Room
From Ghost Towns · Track 10 · 2026
A grief song about a friend/bandmate who died of cancer and the physical absence left behind.
Lyrics · artist-supplied
I found a picture of you chilling with my cat
Before we knew that we were out of time
You were a soul that reminded me of home, that cat lived eight more years,
Guess you needed nine lives.
It hurts to think it was a lack of time that threw gas on a fire
Still feels like I never really got to say goodbye
(I thought)
Thought you were my greatest friend
(That’s not)
Not saying a lot though in the end
(Never knew)
Never knew someone who knew me like you
Now all that’s left is an empty room
All that’s left is an empty room
But I keep feeling you
All that’s left is an empty room
Where I keep feeling you
(Where did you go?)
All that’s left is an empty room
All that’s left is an empty room
But I keep feeling you
All that’s left is an empty room
I’ll never know who ghosted who
(I thought)
Thought you were my greatest friend
(That’s not)
Not saying a lot though in the end
(Never knew)
Never knew someone who knew me like you
Now all that’s left is an empty room
All that’s left is an empty room
That only left us on empty
All that’s left is an empty room
You only left us an empty room
Artist context
The artist has described “Empty Room” as being about a friend/bandmate who died of cancer.
Working interpretation · analysis
Interpretation note: This is analysis of the supplied lyrics, not an authoritative statement of authorial intent. The loss described in Artist Context above was supplied by the artist.
The photograph with the cat makes the memory specific, while the contrast between the cat’s eight more years and “you needed nine lives” makes the time lost feel sharp. The narrator says they never really got to say goodbye. The repeated empty room holds both absence and a continuing sense of the person’s presence: “I keep feeling you.” “I’ll never know who ghosted who” introduces uncertainty even in grief, and the final lines return to the emptiness rather than resolving it.
Themes
death, friendship, grief, absence, memory