[Intro: symphonic-rock male lead, towering orchestral strings, huge drums building] Three in the mornin', the small hours Hallway lights and coffee from a can [Verse 1: Symphonic-rock male lead, powerful towering tenor over crunching rhythm guitar] Thirty years they had a name for me in every single town Troublemaker in the third grade, kept on writin' it down Dropout at seventeen, the one who left the job too soon Never gonna amount to much, the one who ran from every room Bracelet on my wrist that says I'm somebody's somethin' now Pacin' by the window with the city sleepin' out Nurse comes through the double doors and calls me by my last Says come on in, the small hours always move this fast [Break: symphonic-rock male lead, first cry, the band cuts to a newborn's first cry, then the strings and drums surge in] And then I heard her [Hook: symphonic-rock male lead, full drums, towering orchestral strings, huge] In the small hours, they handed me somethin' bigger than me Seven pounds and change, and still the heaviest thing I'll carry All the names they used to call me, I can let 'em fall away Small hours, biggest hour, and I got a brand new name [Verse 2: symphonic-rock male lead, towering, strings rising under every line] Little fist around my finger like she's holdin' on for good Eyes still shut, she's lookin' at me like nobody ever could Didn't ask about my record, didn't ask me where I been Didn't care about the names that everybody wrote in pen Every label that they stuck on me is peelin' at the edge Fallin' off like paint around the hospital window ledge I'm a lot of things they told me, but she's never heard 'em said She just knows the one that holds her, and that name is in my head [Bridge: symphonic-rock male lead, drums half-time, strings swelling to the top] Thirty years of names, and none of 'em were mine Seven pounds of quiet gave me one at half past nine [Hook: symphonic-rock male lead, full drums, towering orchestral strings, huge] In the small hours, they handed me somethin' bigger than me Seven pounds and change, and still the heaviest thing I'll carry All the names they used to call me, I can let 'em fall away Small hours, biggest hour, and I got a brand new name [Outro: symphonic-rock male lead, strings ring out, drums hit the last bar] Call me what you want, the town can keep the rest In the small hours, Dad is the one that I wear best [End]
