[Instrumental Intro] [Intro] Almost twenty years and some doors never close Some names don't grow quiet Some people never really go [Verse 1] I saw you first beneath those YMCA lights dark hair, those eyes that impossible smile Then junior year put you beside my chair English class made the waiting worth the while I asked you on that stairwell all alone you broke my heart before we reached the top But what I thought I wanted turned somehow into a bond that neither one could stop Two young fools against the world not lovers, something stronger We thought there'd always be another road, another summer [Verse 2] White Lumina, Route 20, lead foot down I'd grab the handle, tell you, Slow the hell down You'd laugh, and somehow every reckless mile became another reason I can see you smile Fort Sill took me far away from home I wrote you letters underneath that endless sky Then I came back, and we picked up where we'd stopped Soon you wore the uniform beside me, proud and bright Senior prom, cornrows, that blue dress white Adidas because heels were not your thing June sixth, two thousand four, we crossed that stage never knowing what the years ahead would bring [Chorus] Kim, I still carry you through every year that's gone Still turn the old roads over trying to find where something went wrong They tell me there were things I never could have known But some nights my heart still puts me on that road alone If mercy has a doorway if Heaven lets the wounded through I hope mercy found you God, I hope it found you [Verse 3] Vermont pulled you farther from my reach Different units, different towns, the same old fight Your world turned dark with storms and water a girl staring into rain beneath a broken sky Then you called me from that ward one day I said, Tell me where, I swear that I will come I didn't care what building, town, or room You played brave and never told me where you were I believed there would be time Then one day, there wasn't [Bridge] At your wake the line kept growing through the building, toward the street One soul after another came to say goodbye and grieve And there I learned how many lives your short life had moved through You left fingerprints on more hearts than you ever knew [Bridge 2] There's a courtroom in my head that never closes for the night I enlisted first, you followed after I've connected those two lines a million times I know what everyone has told me I know what they would say But grief doesn't always listen and guilt doesn't fade away So part of me still whispers If I never took that road would she still be here today I don't know how to silence it Maybe I never will [Breakdown] So God, I don't need an explanation I've asked enough for one whole life I only ask this If mercy is truly mercy let it have found her If she arrived before You wounded tired, afraid, and lost please don't remember only how her story stopped Remember the girl upon the water Remember the soldier and the friend Remember that ridiculous lead foot those white Adidas, and that smile again Please, remember Kim [Final Chorus] Kim, I still carry you I don't think that's going away You're in the ink beneath my skin and photographs I've somehow saved You're so young forever where memory cannot change And I'm still here getting older still talking to your name If mercy has a doorway if Heaven lets the wounded through I hope mercy found you God, I hope it found you [Outro] Memorial Day, a beer, two shots One for me, one for you I sit beside your stone and tell you what you've missed I even brought my daughter once Thought the two of you should meet And someday when my own road finally ends if there really is another side I'll find you there Kim, you better start running Because you are in so much trouble when I finally find you I miss you I love you I never forgot
