Nobody Told Me About This | Track 12-15 | 1976

[Intro — distant sax phrases] [Verse 1] Coffee stains and unpaid bills Front porch lights and window sills Someone crying down the hall Dog won’t stop when night time falls I used to think by thirty-five You’d wake up sure, feel more alive But most days drift from room to room Trying not to lose the tune [Section — unfolding refrain, NOT a true chorus] Nobody told me about this part The slow days stitched between the sparks Not the noise, not the plans Just holding life with shaking hands (sax answers vocal line) [Verse 2] Your father’s voice starts showing through In little things you swore you’d lose You catch your face in mirrored glass Wondering how the years moved fast There’s beauty in the worn-down things Bent guitar strings and wedding rings Nothing shining all brand new Still somehow holding onto you [Section — evolves instead of repeats] Nobody told me the nights got long Or that tired hearts still carry on Not with glory, not with grace Just familiar eyes and changing shapes (short sax phrase rises) [Bridge — drums pull back, bass carries movement] Maybe nobody could explain it Maybe you only know once you stand in it Halfway tired, halfway strong Still finding reasons to move along [Final Section — largest emotional lift] Nobody told me about this life The quiet love, the blurred-out nights Not the endings we all fear Just staying close year after year Nobody told me we’d still try Still laugh sometimes, still lose our minds Still sit awake when the house goes still Still chase some part of who we were [Outro — extended sax solo + layered harmonies] (no repeated chorus — let the sax carry the ending)