[OPEN — ORCHESTRAL AWAKENING] The hills were there. I was busy growing older. All that beauty getting on without me. Then something in the light— There I was. [VERSE 1] Smaller shoes. An open sky. Summer stretched from side to side. I lost the afternoons, not everything they held. The wind came through. I knew it well. [PRE-CHORUS] I came back older. The hillside had its years. A little less of both of us, a little more revealed. [CHORUS — SOARING] Look at us! All these years! Still the hillside, still the child. Neither quite the same, neither quite gone. All that beauty carrying on! [COMPLETE SILENCE] Neither of us came through untouched. [VERSE 2] The trees grew crooked. The path wore thin. The rain found places to settle in. I brought my laughter, creased and worn. The hillside wore the weather's form. No need to mention what the years have done. I know this place. It knows that son. [ORCHESTRAL INTERLUDE — CHILDHOOD MELODY RETURNS] [PRE-CHORUS] The years went by. The hills stayed near. Not as they were. But unmistakably here. [CHORUS — EXPANDED] Look at us! All these years! Still the hillside, still the child. Neither quite the same, neither quite gone. All that beauty carrying on! I lost the afternoons, not everything they held. And something in the light remembers well. [SECOND COMPLETE SILENCE] There I was. Still looking. [FINAL ORCHESTRAL ASCENT] The scars are ours. The view is new. The sky has changed. I have too. And for one moment, nothing needs repairing. The world is here. And I am here. [FINAL CHORUS — MAGNIFICENT] Look at us! All these years! Still the hillside, still the child! A little weathered, a little wild. All that beauty carrying on! Neither quite the same, neither quite gone. And oh— How much we've carried on! [FINAL — ORCHESTRAL RESOLUTION] The hills were there. So was I. [HARD END]
