I promise I'll make it home

[vocals: Gritty untrained male vocal, whisper to explosive shout arc] [background-vocals: Gang harmonies in final chorus] [intro: Soft guitar, faint banjo, near whisper] (soft) Hey… Oh… [verse: Whispered, intimate, fragile] I remember how you held that light Like it burned so steady in the night And the world made sense in the way you spoke Now it’s breaking down in the mess we all made I’ve been reaching through empty air For a trace of something I know was there But it slips right through every time I try Like I lost more truth than I can find [build: Banjo becomes lively, tension rising] And I—I feel it missing in my chest Yeah I—I won’t let it come to rest [chorus: First big lift, not max yet] Hey! I promise I’ll make it home Through the silence and the unknown Oh! I promise I’ll make it home Even out here walking alone And I—I will live, I won’t fold Through the nights so bitter cold No I—I still love, I still know I promise I’ll make it home to you [verse: Stronger, more drive, more grit] There were days when the air felt clean Like the truth stood sharp and stood free Now the ground won’t hold and the lines all blur And I’m fighting just to remember you But I swear I can feel it still In the quiet moments against my will Like a voice that calls through the weight and every lie Saying don’t let it all just die [build: Aggressive strum + banjo drive, vocal strain rising] Yeah I—I hear it under everything Yeah I—I feel the pull it brings [break: Drop to near silence] (soft) If I lost the road… would you wait for me… [aria-rise: Spiritual lift, voice opens, instruments swell] Ohhhhh— I feel it rise like a breath I held in Like a truth I was trying to hide Ohhhhh— Through the dark and the weight and the fall There’s a love that outlives it all [chorus: FULL DROP — biggest energy, horns swell] HEY! I promise I’ll make it home Through the fire and the great unknown OH! I promise I’ll make it home Hear your voice in the undertone And I—I will live, I won’t fold Through the nights so bitter cold No I—I still love, I still know I promise I’ll make it home to you [chorus: Extended, chantable, communal] Hey! I promise I’ll make it home (Oh-oh-oh!) I am not really walking alone Yeah I—I still love, even if it breaks me through I will make it home to you [outro: Soft again, full-circle whisper] (soft) If you’re there… just say a prayer… I promise I’ll make it home to you…