[What this Song is About: [Sometimes life has to break your plans before you realize what is actually worth having.] [At its heart, “The Things We Give Away” is about how an unexpected tragedy can completely redirect a life. After an accident leaves a man learning to walk again, a friend offers him a place to stay near rehab—and that simple act of kindness grows into a twenty-year love and a shared life. Even though that relationship eventually ended, the song reflects on how something doesn’t have to last forever to be profoundly meaningful. Sometimes losing the future we planned is what allows us to discover the gifts, people, and love we never knew we needed.] [Intro: sparse acoustic guitar, distant pedal steel, soft room tone] [Verse 1] One afternoon, the world came out of nowhere A bumper, a windshield, a flash of blue One minute he was walking through his life The next, wondering what his legs could do They said they might not be able to save it Said he’d have to learn to walk again But they put a piece of titanium through him And sent him off to find out who he was [Pre-Chorus] Funny how a body, breaking Can make a man look deeper within At all the things he thought were certain At all the places he’d been headed [Chorus] Sometimes the greatest things we give away Are the things we never meant to lose A spare room, a little time A shoulder when the world turns cruel You don’t know what a kindness weighs Till you’re the one who needs it someday And sometimes life gives back in ways You never thought to ask for Sometimes the greatest things we give away Are the things that change us in immeasurable ways. [Verse 2] A friend said, “Come and stay here for a while My place is close to where you’ll heal You can mend your leg and find your balance You don’t have to make it on your own” So somewhere between the rehab mornings And the long slow evenings learning pain Two people started sharing coffee Then a life began to take its shape [Chorus] Sometimes the greatest things we give away Are the things we never meant to lose A spare room, a little time A shoulder when the world turns cruel You don’t know what a kindness weighs Till you’re the one who needs it someday And sometimes life gives back in ways You never thought to ask for Sometimes the greatest things we give away Are the things that change us anyway [Bridge: music drops almost completely] Twenty years is a long road And not every road goes where we planned Some loves are built to last forever Some just teach us how to understand They found each other in a wreckage Made a home from what was left And even when the home came down It didn’t make the gift less real [Instrumental: warm guitar, pedal steel, restrained drums] [Verse 3] Now he walks with a little metal That remembers what his body can’t A quiet piece of that old afternoon Still carrying him across the land And maybe that’s what life’s been teaching Since the day that everything went wrong You can lose the life you thought you’d wanted And still discover you were given something strong [Final Chorus] Sometimes the greatest things we give away Are the things we never meant to lose A little shelter from the storm A little faith when someone’s bruised You don’t know what a kindness weighs Till the years have carried you away And sometimes love is not forever But that doesn’t make it less of a gift Sometimes the greatest things we give away Are the things that change us anyway [Outro: acoustic guitar and pedal steel] Maybe we’re all just passing through Borrowing hearts and rooms and time Leaving pieces of ourselves behind And taking pieces when we go Sometimes a stranger saves your life Sometimes a friend just leaves the door unlocked Sometimes the road takes everything you have So you can finally see… what you’ve got
