[Intro: soft fingerpicked guitar, distant cardinal call] [Verse 1] [Verse 1] A soft voice broke the morning calm, A parent reaching across the veil, "Please help my child, they're so afraid," So I carried love's message without fail. [Verse 2] A red cardinal perched on a wire above, Dad's way of saying, "I'm still here with love." An old friend's birthday, maybe the last, I read a card of love from a parent long passed. [Chorus] One more song, one more echo, Love doesn't end when it's time to go. Drop the ego, pick up love, I pause, I breathe, I choose love. This is my encore. [Verse 3: building, drums like hoofbeats] Cattle run when the sky turns gray, The storm rides with them all the way. But the buffalo turns till the winds decrease, My friend faced their grief and came through at peace. [Bridge: stripped down, half-time, tender] "When you pass, you'll be my teacher," They smiled and whispered, "Deal." Two days before they left this world, They came running with their dog, and they were healed. [Spoken, softly] "There's nothing to fear... I'm free." [Key Change] [Final Chorus: full, layered harmonies, choir] One more word of essence, one more echo, A golden cord of grief and love that won't let go. Loved beyond measure, liked beyond words, Forty-one lessons from the other side, still heard. This is their encore, And now it's yours. [Outro: slowing, gentle piano] Come tired, come hopeful, come broken open, The bridge is waiting, the door's left open. Turn toward the storm, let love be your guide, Welcome home, it's waiting on the other side. [Instrumental fade, cardinal call] [End]
