[Verse 1] The kitchen clock says half past midnight, my boots are lying by the door, there’s a coat across the old chair I’ve seen a thousand times before. You left the hallway light still burning, like you somehow always do, and the whole house feels a little warmer just because it waits with you. [Verse 2] There were years I chased the distance, thought the road would make me whole, kept believing something somewhere had my name written in gold. But the farther that I wandered, the less I understood, how a quiet room and someone waiting could be everything that’s good. [Chorus] It’s the light you leave on, when you know I’m coming home, it’s your coffee in the morning, it’s not waking up alone. It’s the hand I reach for in the dark without thinking anymore, all the things I spent my life chasing were already behind this door. [Instrumental] [piano holds the harmony] [fiddle answers with a slow aching phrase] [soft Hammond enters underneath] [Verse 3] There are lines around your eyes now, there are silver threads in mine, we have watched the seasons change us one ordinary day at a time. I don’t miss the man I once was, he was always running blind, trying hard to find a future while the present stayed behind. [Bridge] [drums pull back] [voice close and intimate] If I get another lifetime, I won’t ask for something new. [violin sustains softly] Just this house, this worn-out table, and another night with you. [Final Chorus] It’s the light you leave on, when you know I’m coming home, it’s your coffee in the morning, it’s not waking up alone. It’s the hand I reach for in the dark, the sound of your breathing next to mine, all the things I thought were waiting were here with me the whole damn time. [Outro] [acoustic guitar and piano only] Leave the hallway light on, darling... I’ll be home tonight. [fiddle enters with one final quiet phrase] [natural unresolved decay]
