Before the River

[Intro - suspended, intimate] Before the river Before the rain Before you ever learned my name I was here [Verse 1] I wake as silver on the window Gather softly on the leaves Hang suspended in the morning Then surrender to gravity I fall in pieces from the heavens Find the cracks beneath your feet Every drop becomes another Every other becomes me [Pre-Chorus] Cup your hands I'll fill them Close your hands I'm gone Build your walls I'll wait there I have all the time you don't [Chorus] I am water I don't stop I become what holds me Until it cannot I am water I give life I can carry you for miles I can take you in one night Call me gentle Call me wild I've been both since the beginning I am water I survive [Instrumental - flowing transition] [Verse 2] I have slept beneath the glaciers I have risen into steam I have wandered through the bodies Of every living thing that breathes I have carved my name through canyons Never lifted up a blade Stone can call itself eternal I just smile and let it wait [Pre-Chorus] You can dam me You can drain me You can turn me from my course But I gather I grow heavy And I always find a way [Chorus] I am water I don't stop I become what holds me Until it cannot I am water I give life I can carry you for miles I can take you in one night Call me gentle Call me wild I've been both since the beginning I am water I survive [Instrumental Descent] [Verse 3 - submerged] At the surface I am sunlight Broken diamonds in the blue Come below and lose the daylight See how quickly I change you Down where pressure bends the silence Down where nothing needs the sun I move mountains in the darkness Slow enough to look like none There are currents you can't witness Pulling worlds beneath the waves There are trenches without endings There are depths without a name [Bridge - steadily rising] I was mist before you saw me I was rain before I fell I was locked inside the winter I was rising with the swell I was rivers before borders I was oceans before maps Every line you drew around me Was a line I never asked I have swallowed ships and cities I have kissed the desert clean I have held the first beginnings Of everything you've ever been [Breakdown - nearly bare] Drink me Fear me Need me You are carrying me now [Final Chorus - immense] I AM WATER I DON'T STOP I BECOME WHAT HOLDS ME UNTIL IT CANNOT I AM WATER I GIVE LIFE I CAN CARRY YOU FOR MILES I CAN TAKE YOU IN ONE NIGHT I AM OCEAN I AM RAIN I AM EVERY CLOUD ABOVE YOU I AM RUNNING THROUGH YOUR VEINS CALL ME GENTLE CALL ME WILD I HAVE BEEN BOTH SINCE THE BEGINNING I AM WATER I SURVIVE [Post-Chorus - slowly dissolving] River to ocean Ocean to sky Sky into rainfall Again I arrive I change I return I change I return I change I return I change I return [Outro - intimate, returning to the beginning] Before the river Before the rain Before you ever learned my name I was here I am here I will be here