It was important to me for this song that the core concept of dying was not disclosed to the listener too soon. It first comes up with the line of “8 months to live”, but the clarity of the situation has to wait till the chorus. I considered moving to strummed chords after the first chorus but decided to keep it consistent and more sparse around the fingerpicking so that the vocal is highlighted. Ending the song halfway through a bar was also a deliberate choice.