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001-emergency-contact2026-04-2573 → 87 (+14)

Case 001 — Refining a draft from B+ to A on the Voice metric

A solid B+ draft (composite 73) with weak Voice (62) can clear A-band on Voice without losing the original’s emotional core, given Refine Mode + lock-the-strongest-line preservation.

Starting point

I keep your number where the dead ones go
The address book that I never throw away
73/100 · B+

Specific opener (carries Specificity); Voice metric flagged because the next four lines slide into generic post-breakup imagery.

Result

I keep your number where the dead ones go
Between my mother’s landline and the dentist who retired
87/100 · A++14

Same opener locked. Refine Mode replaced the generic second line with a Pattison-grade specific anchor (named living-and-dead contacts). Voice metric lifted 62 → 89.

Pipeline

Refine Mode (preservation 80%)Auto-Gauntlet

Lessons

  1. The strongest line in a B-band draft usually marks the Voice ceiling, not the Voice floor — lock it and refine outward.
  2. Specificity that names two adjacent things by their actual identity (mother’s landline + retired dentist) reads as Voice on the rubric, not Specificity.
  3. Gauntlet did not need to fire after Refine Mode + lock — preservation captured the emotional core; the fix was surgical.
  4. Composite +14 is unusual for a B+ start. The room for movement was Voice; everything else was already paying its weight.

Want a case run on your own lyric?

Email support@songforgeai.com with your lyric + the hypothesis you want tested. Selected cases ship as their own public entry under the same strict format.

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