[VERSE 1 — QUIET, WARM, REFLECTIVE] They rose before the morning light Put worn-out boots on tired feet Built the fences, swept the floors Kept the lamps on, locked the doors Held a child against the cold Worked with hands that grew old Never stood where crowds would cheer Still they made a good life here [PRE-CHORUS — GENTLE LIFT] Full many a flower is born to blush unseen Still it gives its color to the world Full many a gem of purest ray serene Never needs a crown to know its worth [CHORUS — WARM, UPLIFTING] You don’t need your name in stone To leave something behind Every hand that raised a home Every heart that gave its time Every road somebody laid Every promise someone kept The world is full of quiet lives That gave us more than we can ever repay And though their names may fade from view What they gave still carries through [VERSE 2 — MORE PERSONAL AND HUMAN] Someone taught a child to read Someone planted one more seed Someone stayed beside a bed Held a trembling hand and said You are loved, you’re not alone Someone made a house a home Someone fixed what others broke Someone gave away their coat No parade and no applause Just a thousand quiet causes That became the world we know One small kindness at a time [PRE-CHORUS — BUILD] The short and simple annals of the poor Hold more treasure than we sometimes see Not every life will open history’s door Still every life can leave a legacy [CHORUS — BIGGER] You don’t need your name in stone To leave something behind Every hand that raised a home Every heart that gave its time Every road somebody laid Every promise someone kept The world is full of quiet lives That gave us more than we can ever repay And though their names may fade from view What they gave still carries through [BRIDGE — DROP TO PIANO AND CELLO] The paths of glory lead but to the grave But love can leave a road beyond the name A meal set down A lesson taught A field turned green A battle fought A shoulder offered A burden shared A simple life That showed it cared [BUILD — STRINGS AND HORN RISE] Maybe no one wrote it down Maybe no one gathered round But somewhere in the life we live There is something they still give [FINAL CHORUS — FULL ORCHESTRA, HOPEFUL AND EMOTIONAL] You don’t need your name in stone To leave something behind Every hand that raised a home Every heart that gave its time Every bridge somebody built Every child somebody raised Every quiet sacrifice Still echoes through the lives it changed The world was built by names we’ll never know By faithful hands that never sought the show And if someday our names fade too May something good still carry through [FINAL REFRAIN — CHOIR SOFTLY UNDER LEAD] Let it carry through Let it carry through Not the fame Not the praise Just the love we leave in place [ENDING — PIANO, STRINGS, DISTANT CHOIR] The world was built by names we’ll never know And still their light is showing us the road
