17 hand-scored exemplars.

Methodology

1. Each entry is a hand-scored exemplar produced by the SongForgeAI evaluation pipeline (claude-sonnet-4-20250514 @ temperature 0.7) and validated against the Anti-Inflation rules in the standard.
2. Lyrics are excerpted (8-16 lines) under fair-use criticism + commentary. Public-domain originals are used where available; AI-generated samples are clearly marked.
3. Composite scores carry the same Gravity Rule, Burden of Proof, Antagonist Ceiling, and Historical Context anchors that the live API applies. A 90+ here is as rare as a 90+ in production.
4. Per-tier scores (craft / expression / impact) are reported alongside the composite so implementers can verify their tier weights match the published 25/40/35 split.
5. This is a SEED corpus. Future revisions add 50+ entries; the v0.1.0 ships the methodology + the first dozen so the format is stable.

The 17 reference entries

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry

I learned the word 'sober' from her ex-husband
Who still came over for Thanksgiving every other year
She'd set the table for one extra plate
Like she was making sure the word kept its meaning

She kept her promises in a coffee can
Next to the matches and the kitchen sink
Every one I broke is in there
Folded smaller than I'd like to think

I was raised on borrowed weather
A storm my father never named
I carry it like a borrowed coat
That fits the shoulders just the same

She wears my grandfather's wool coat to the bus
The one with the cigarette burn at the cuff
Says it's the only thing in this house that fits her
And I don't know what to say about that

I keep your old apartment key
In a drawer I never open
It isn't yours to want back
And it isn't mine to give

I told you I was good at being gone
You took it as a brag, not a confession
Now you're packing up the car alone
And I'm the one who lost the lesson

When the lights go down in the empty pew
I count the dust between the kneelers
You meet me in the patient places
In the silence between the hymn and the verse

I learned to drive on Wednesday roads
Where everybody waves like they mean it
I didn't know not waving back
Meant I was choosing to be lonely

Mama kept the lights on with a smile she rented
Dad sent letters from the place where men get sentenced
I grew up between the postage and the payment
Learned that love was something measured by the basement

We were almost everything
A chorus we forgot to sing
A promise written in the rain
That washed away before the chain

I came in broken, You met me there
I lift my voice, You hear my prayer
Your grace runs deeper than I can see
From dust to glory You've called me

Driving down a backroad, windows down
Memories are playing, loud and proud
We were young and stupid, perfectly free
Now it's just a memory, that used to be me

Tonight the city lights are calling out my name
I'm dancing through the rain like never the same
My heart is on fire, the stars all align
This moment forever, you're mine, only mine

I built the railing on the porch myself
Mixed the concrete in a wheelbarrow
All I really need is love
This is my truth, told slant

My heart is in a vase that you can break
Love is just a game with stakes too high to take
Don't you let me fade into the night
I need your love to make my world feel right

Baby baby I love you so
Where you go I'll always go
Love me love me one more time
You're so fine and you are mine