[Intro: Soft fingerpicked acoustic guitar, distant humming] [Verse 1] I bought a house to call my own, Built a fence around the stone. Planted roots into the ground, Spent my life just settling down. Every nail and every board, Every little thing I stored. Thought I'd finally found my place, Now I'm running my own race. [Pre-Chorus] And the roof needs fixing, And the grass keeps growing, And the bills keep coming, While the years keep going. [Chorus] Oh, the things we own, They never leave us alone. We spend our lives collecting, Just to find we're not our own. And the more we hold, The less we seem to roam. Tell me, who's the master, Of the things we think we own? [Verse 2] Bought a car to take me far, Now it sits beneath the stars. Needs new tires, needs some gas, Another payment, another task. Got a job to buy some time, Sold my hours for a dime. Saved my money, watched it grow, But where'd all those summers go? [Pre-Chorus] And the clock keeps ticking, And the world keeps spinning, And the things worth living for, Aren't the things we're winning. [Chorus] Oh, the things we own, They never leave us alone. We spend our lives collecting, Just to find we're not our own. And the more we hold, The less we seem to roam. Tell me, who's the master, Of the things we think we own? [Instrumental: Raw acoustic guitar strumming, subtle mandolin enters] [Verse 3] There's a mountain calling me, Where the rivers still run free. Where the trees don't ask for rent, And the wind don't charge a cent. Could I leave it all behind? All the things I thought were mine? Would I find a better way, Or just miss what I threw away? [Bridge: Stripped back, almost spoken, rough and intimate] I don't hate the life I've made, Or the price that I have paid. There's a woman that I love, And some children growing up. I don't need to disappear, To find the things I hold most dear. Maybe freedom isn't found, By leaving everything behind. [Final Chorus: Stronger vocals, fuller acoustic strumming] Oh, the things we own, They never leave us alone. But a house is not a prison, If there's love inside the home. And the more we know, The less we need to hold. Maybe we're just passing through, With the things we think we own. [Outro: Guitar slows, vocals soften] One day these walls will fall, And my name will fade from stone. But the love I leave behind, Was the only thing I owned. [Softly spoken] Or maybe... It was never mine at all. [End: Single acoustic guitar chord, natural decay]
