[Intro — mountain wind, distant birds, four-note felt-piano motif] [Verse 1] Five seventeen, the dashboard glowing Blue against the mountain glass Coffee cooling in the holder One more town becoming past I brought no grand revelation Just a coat, a key, a doubt And the shape that I had lived in Finally wearing itself out [Pre-Chorus] The ridge held back the sunrise Like it knew what light could cost I kept waiting for a signal While the night kept moving on [Refrain] I thought courage would be thunder Something shaking through my bones But it sounded like one footstep Leaving everything I’d known I don’t need the whole way visible Just enough stone under me The dark is not an empty country It’s where morning learns to be [Instrumental — four-note motif returns, heartbeat kick enters] [Verse 2] Wind moved through the roadside grasses Every silver blade leaned east Far below, the sleeping houses Held the life I couldn’t keep Nothing opened in the heavens No commandment crossed the air Just my breath against the cold And the knowledge I was there [Pre-Chorus] Maybe doors don’t always open Maybe some are walked around Maybe leaving first becomes real When your feet disturb the ground [Refrain] I thought courage would be thunder Something fearless, something bright But it sounded like my breathing As I stepped beyond the light I don’t need the whole way visible Just enough road underneath The dark is not an empty country I can hear the morning breathe [Bridge — drums and bass fall away] There are questions built like cages There are answers built like walls There are names we keep repeating Long after they stop fitting us at all So I left mine with the guardrail Where the frost was turning gold Not because I knew the ending But because I had outgrown The person waiting for the world To tell them when to go [One beat of complete silence] [Final Refrain — full drums, widened harmonies, higher vocal register] I thought courage would be thunder Now I know it has a sound It is every quiet heartbeat Choosing not to turn around I don’t need the whole way visible I can trust the next few feet The dark is not an empty country It is where the daylight starts to breathe [Final Lift] Let the road keep changing Let the distance make me new I was never waiting for the morning The morning was waiting For me to move [Outro — rhythm continues, four-note motif resolves upward]
