Behind the Lyrics to “Skyline”

This song was recorded and mixed in late December during songwriting class with Mr. Naj, after we worked on it between fall break and winter break. That time was spent writing, revising, and trying out different instrumental and melodic ideas until the song took shape. The lyrics were written by me, with guitar by Aria Smith.

Aria and I are both seniors, and we wanted to capture a song that reflects what it feels like to be on the edge of leaving as we enter our final semester of high school. The song captures what many seniors feel during this time, excitement for what’s next, nostalgia for what’s ending, and uncertainty about leaving what has always felt familiar. The main message focuses on saying goodbye to our hometown and old versions of ourselves, while still holding onto the memories that made us who we are.

First, the song opens with a verse about packing up and preparing to leave, but it is really the emotional weight of that moment being packed away:

I’ll pack my heart in cardboard boxes,

Leave the porch light on, in case.

Wonder why I have to leave this place.

I have to goI know its time ... the life I lived erased

These lines were written to showcase the conflict between knowing it is time to leave and still wanting to hold onto home. The porch light represents the hope that something familiar and nostalgic will still be there when you return, even after everything changes.

Then, the chorus:

So I’ll drive till the skyline disappears,

Till the rearview mirror shows my teenage years.

So I’ll drive till the skyline disappears,

Till the rearview mirror shows my teenage years.

Driving represents both the physical act of leaving our hometown and the metaphorical act of leaving behind childhood and teenage years. Watching the skyline disappear is about crossing the line between what is familiar and what comes next, while the rearview mirror reminds us that those years are still part of who we are. This section was not always the chorus. We spent a lot of time experimenting with structure, including versions where what became the bridge served as the chorus. Over time, this part became the core of the song.

The second verse follows the same style of the first:

I’ll seal my past inside this letter.

Leave the stamp on just in case.

Use a pen my street won’t erase.

I have to go

I know its time ... with every step I take.

This verse is about writing a letter to our younger ourselves as a reminder of where we come from and what home means to us. Leaving the stamp on “just in case” highlights the idea of wanting that reminder to always be there, something we can return to even as we move forward. It’s less about preserving the past and more about carrying a sense of home with us as we take each step away from it.

The bridge slows the song down to show that despite the upbeat beginnings to the song, all of the lyrics reflect a stage in our lives that can be very sad:

Maybe it’s not the walls,

Maybe it’s us growing tall.

Every door that used to fit

Pencil marks the side of it

We’re still here, time’s slipping fast,

Present’s turning into the past.

Brand new chapter, turn the page

Wonder why I have to age

Earlier drafts that we had written used this section as the beginning, but as the song evolved, it made more sense for it to become the bridge. Slowing down here allows the listener to sit with the realization that it is not the place changing, but us. The door frames that we used to measure our heights on in our childhood homes, the rooms that felt so much bigger when we were younger, it all reflects the moment where you recognize how quickly time has passed and how suddenly you have outgrown spaces that once felt like they’d last forever.

The song ends by returning to the chorus with new added harmonies, reinforcing the feeling of leaving while still looking back:

So I’ll drive till the skyline disappears,

Till the rearview mirror shows my teenage years.

So I’ll drive till the skyline disappears,

Till the rearview mirror shows my teenage years.

So I’ll drive till the skyline disappears,

Till the rearview mirror shows my teenage years.

So I’ll drive till the skyline disappears,

Till the rearview mirror shows my teenage years.

Repeating the chorus multiple times at the end gives the song a sense of lingering rather than resolution. Instead of ending sharply, it trails off the way moments do when you know something is ending but you are not ready for it to be over yet. The repetition is meant to showcase when you wish you could stay in the feeling a little longer before finally moving on. The main thing to take from it is that as you continue driving forward, you will never fully return to those nostalgic years, but they will always remain a memory to look back on in your rearview mirror.

Link to “Skyline” recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zSmLx3pwAWiT5EYRPYKJyjPyM6icrQji/view?ths=true