[Intro | solo piano | intimate female vocal] I still tell you everything Before I tell anyone Little things that wouldn’t matter To anybody else What I ate, where I’ve been Who made me laugh today Sometimes I stop halfway through Just to hear what you might say [Verse 1 | piano | faint cello enters] I know the sound you’d make When you thought I was being foolish I know the pause before You’d tell me I was wrong And sometimes when I ask you The wind outside goes still Maybe that’s just weather But I know you better still [Chorus | warm strings enter gently] Even though you’re not here You’re always listening, always near In the quiet after I say your name In the sunlight shifting across the rain You didn’t leave me Not the way they say I talk to you And you answer every day Not in words that anyone else can hear But you’re always listening Always near [Verse 2 | piano and cello | vocal close and unadorned] You never walked these cloisters Never saw my Oxford room Never stood beneath the tower On a cold October afternoon But I know you brought me here I know it like I know my name Every wrong turn somehow opened On the road I had to take And when I first came through the gate Scared enough to turn around I felt your hand between my shoulders Though there was no one else around [Chorus | strings slightly fuller] Even though you’re not here You’re always listening, always near In the quiet after I say your name In the sunlight shifting across the rain You didn’t leave me Not the way they say I talk to you And you answer every day Not in words that anyone else can hear But you’re always listening Always near [Verse 3 | strings recede | piano only at first] I tell you when I’m frightened Though I usually say I’m not I tell you when I miss you Which is more than I admit a lot I tell you about Dad And George And everything that’s changed And sometimes for a moment Nothing feels that far away A curtain lifts without a breeze A cloud moves from the sun A sudden warmth across my face And I know which one you’ve done [Bridge | nearly a cappella | sustained cello underneath] People say that time moves on As if that’s what it’s for As if love belongs behind us When someone isn’t here anymore But you were my mother then You’re my mother now I don’t need to understand The where The why The how [brief silence] I just need to talk And somehow You are there [Final Chorus | piano and full warm strings | vocal remains intimate, no belting] Even though you’re not here You’re always listening, always near In every silence that feels like home In every road I don’t walk alone You didn’t leave me You just changed the way I have to listen When we talk each day And someday maybe I’ll understand What carries your voice When the whole world goes still But I don’t need proof I never did You’re my mother You always will be [Outro | solo piano | faint cello] So I’ll tell you everything Before I tell anyone Goodnight, Mom [soft pause] I love you too
