[Verse 1] Before I knew the names of things, before I knew the rules You caught me in your branches, protecting me from other youths You gave me the best seat, your food, your precious time Know everything you handed down was precious in my mind You tried to teach me how to speak in ways I couldn’t then I caught the shape of what you meant, just not the words quite yet; but I knew your shade from all the rest, I knew I couldn’t do without. I knew the wind was warmer when I was standing by your bough [Chorus] Oh, my oak, my oak how you held against the weather how you made the hardest afternoons feel soft and last forever and I grew reckless, I grew restless I leaned toward the open sky but I have never loved another place the way I love your side [Verse 2] You made a room of open air, a home without a wall; a harbor in the Summer blaze and you were artwork in the Fall You gave me shelter from the weather in the harshest Winter days and somehow made Spring even better with your Singin' In the Rain I took your gifts as children do, without the weight they bear, not knowing what it cost to stand so constant, rooted there; not knowing all the storms you broke and how they stressed your sanity I only knew the peace I felt when I was under your canopy [Chorus] Oh, my oak, my oak how you held against the weather how you made the hardest afternoons feel soft and last forever and I grew reckless, I grew restless I leaned toward the open sky but I have never loved another place the way I love your side [Bridge] Now I’m living far from home tending to our childhood pines I’m trying to earn the right to tell you what I’ve seen with my own eyes All the roads you dreamed before me all the worlds you let me see I want to bring them back like stories lay them at your feet Know I had to leave your shadow to understand its grace, but every pace I make is measured by the memory of that place And when I finally make it home I’ll sit beneath your leaves and tell you where your love has traveled tell you what it made of me [Final Chorus] Oh, my oak, my oak still you hold against the weather still you make the heaviest of days feel light enough to weather and I may roam, I may ramble I may wander far and wide but part of me is always resting in the shelter at your side [Outro] please wait for me my favorite tree I’ve got stories for your listening leaves wait for me I’m still becoming what you always saw in me
