[Verse 1] She folded shirts in the kitchen light News on low beside the sink One eye on the weather outside One eye on what we’d become She knew which kid was lying By the sound of “I’m okay” Mothers learn those languages Long before the words are made [Verse 2] There’s a photograph above the television Corners curling into brown Three boys grinning at the camera Before the world wore us down Now one drinks too much on weekends One works himself half-dead One keeps driving through the night With voices in his head [Chorus] Mother… You carried us farther than your hands could reach Mother… Still praying for children with wrinkles on their cheeks And every road we vanished down Still leads back to your door A mother ain’t a season She’s forever at the core [Verse 3] She says she sleeps just fine now But the hallway light still burns Like some old railroad signal Waiting for the lost return And every Christmas at the table She studies all our eyes Checking for the things we never say Hidden somewhere behind the smile [Bridge] (spoken) You spend half your life pulling away from your mother… Then one day you wake up And realize her voice became The voice inside your own head [Instrumental Break] (Rustic organ swells, mournful harmonica, loose roots-rock groove, lyrical guitar phrases, subtle piano fills) [Final Chorus] Mother… You walked beside us through flood and flame Mother… Still answering when we call your name And time may turn us older But it never breaks that cord A mother ain’t temporary She’s the last true thing in the world [Outro] (spoken softly) Some people stop being needed A mother never does
