[Verse 1] I don't want to leave this world The way a footprint leaves the sand, Here a moment, gone by morning, With nothing growing from my hands. If I can ease a stranger's sorrow, If I can keep one river blue, If I can leave one tree still standing, Then I have had a reason too. [Pre-Chorus] They smiled at me across the table, Like dreamers never learn enough— But tell me, what is life worth living If we forget the art of love? [Chorus] I still believe in us, Though the world says I should know better. I still believe in us, Through the hunger and the stormy weather. If every heart protects its little flame, Maybe darkness doesn't get to stay. Call me foolish, call me what you must— I still believe, I still believe in us. [Verse 2] My friend said, “Hope is for the lucky, For those with bread enough to dream. You cannot ask a drowning person To keep another person clean.” And something in his words went through me, Because I knew that he was right— It's hard to speak about tomorrow To someone fighting through tonight. [Pre-Chorus] But if the wounded stop believing, And hungry hearts forget to care, Who will build the kinder morning We keep wishing would be there? [Chorus] I still believe in us, Though the world says I should know better. I still believe in us, Through the hunger and the stormy weather. If every heart protects its little flame, Maybe darkness doesn't get to stay. Call me foolish, call me what you must— I still believe, I still believe in us. [Bridge] Does the darkness make us colder, Or do colder hearts make night? Does the age destroy compassion, Or do we surrender it without a fight? I don't need to save the whole world, I don't need my name in stone. Let me make one life less lonely, Let me leave one kindness sown. And if nobody remembers Who I was or where I've been, Let a flower rise somewhere From something good I left unseen. [Final Chorus] I still believe in us, Even when believing breaks me. I still believe in us, Even when the whole world shakes me. Take my pride and take my certainty, But leave this foolish hope with me. Call me naive—I'll pay the cost, For the day we stop believing Is the day we're truly lost. [Outro] Then somewhere on my road back home, A desperate hand came out of the night. He took the money from my pocket And disappeared beyond the light. I stood there hurt, almost laughing, With all my beautiful words undone... Then whispered: “May you find whatever you were searching for. I still believe in us.”
