[Intro: Steady acoustic strum, slightly brighter tempo than previous tracks, audience stirs with energy] - Chord Progression: G - C - D - Em [Verse 1: Soulful, slightly rough male vocal, more energy and forward motion] G C I've walked on gravel roads that tore the bottom off my shoes D Em Learned that grace don't come in comfort, comes in what you choose G C Every stone along the way was teaching me to bend D Em I didn't know that breaking was the shape that grace would send [Verse 2: Vocal opens further, more conviction] G C I used to think that mercy was a thing you had to earn D Em Now I think it's closer to a fire you let burn G C It don't care how far you've wandered or how long you've been gone D Em It just meets you on the gravel and it carries you along [Verse 3: Soulful female guest vocal joins, trading lines with the lead] G C So here's to gravel roads and here's to everything they've cost D Em Here's to finding grace in places I assumed that I had lost G C Every scar along this journey's got a story it can tell D Em And every story's proof that I made it, and made it well [Bridge: Instrumentation lifts, dynamics build toward the final release] Am D I'm not asking gravel to turn soft beneath my feet Am D I'm just asking to keep walking to that grace I've come to meet [Final Chorus (Grand): Full band and guest vocal together, warm, triumphant but unhurried] G C D Em Gravel and grace, gravel and grace, carried me this far G C D Em Gravel and grace, gravel and grace, however rough the road, however rough the scar Am D G And if I'm still walking when the story finally ends C D I'll thank the gravel, and I'll thank the grace, and I'll thank the friends [Outro: Guitar settles into a warm resolving figure, audience applause rises naturally] - Chord Progression: G - C - G [End]
