(Intro) Verse 1 I saw the boys with faster hands, Their fingers flying free, They knew a hundred clever ways To say what came to me. So I learned another chord or two, I practised through the night, Then told myself that wanting more Could never make me right. Chorus I want to rise above it, But I still want to win, I say the race means nothing While secretly I run. I tell myself it's only sound, Just notes beneath the sky, But when another plays them better, Something burns inside. Verse 2 One could bend a note like lightning, One could write a song in gold, One could make a thousand hearts Believe the tale he'd told. I stood beside the masters With my humble face on show, While counting every little trick That I had yet to know. Chorus I want to rise above it, But I still want to win, I say the race means nothing While secretly I run. I tell myself it's only sound, Just notes beneath the sky, But when another plays them better, Something burns inside. Verse 3 I went east to find an answer, Found a silence I could trust, Learned to watch my hungry ego As it turned itself to dust. But sitting with the incense, With the temple bells nearby, I still heard another player And thought, “Can I play that high?” Bridge You can give away your trophies, You can throw your medals down, You can preach about detachment While you're still chasing the crown. You can say the self's an illusion, You can swear that fame can die, Then hear another guitarist And feel that old fire rise. Verse 4 So I played beneath the spotlights, Then I played beneath the trees, Tried to make my fingers serve the heart, Tried to make the heart feel free. Sometimes I touched the silence, Sometimes I missed it by a mile, Sometimes the purest thing I found Was making someone smile. Final Chorus I don't need to rise above it, I don't need to win, Let every hand play faster, Let every voice come in. There is no crown in music, No summit in the sky; The song was never mine to own — It only passed me by. Final Verse So let the young ones thunder, Let the masters steal the show, Let them find the notes and places I could never hope to know. I will hear them without envy, I will watch them without fear, For another person's brilliance Doesn't make my own disappear. Outro No measuring. No proving. No race left to run. The hand that once held tightly Can finally open up. Let the music take me Where the ego cannot go. I don't have to be the greatest. I only have to let it flow. (Outro)
