[Intro] Before the hand Before the saw Before the plan Before the law Before the cut Before the name The grain was there Running through the frame [Verse 1] The tree did not ask me What I meant to make Did not wait for my design Before it chose its shape Years of rain Years of heat Years of winter pushing through Ring inside of ring Building something I did not do Then I arrive With steel and plan Calling myself The working hand But the board already carries A direction of its own The grain was there Before I ever Called the timber home [Pre-Chorus] You can cut with it You can cut across You can spend the strength You can count the loss You can call it stubborn You can call it flawed But the grain was there Before you brought the saw [Chorus] The grain was there before the blade Before the mark Before the trade Before the maker Named the shape The grain was there And would not wait The grain was there before the blade Running quiet Through the weight You can work the wood But you do not get To choose what came before your hand [Verse 2] I have treated every surface Like a field without a past Thought a sharp enough intention Could make anything hold fast But some boards split Some boards bow Some knots refuse the line Some structures tell you No Before the hand can call it mine That ain’t failure That ain’t spite That ain’t wood refusing right That is matter Having history That is structure Having say That is something older than me Standing in the way [Pre-Chorus] Not every resistance Is an enemy Not every limit Is captivity Some things push back Because they’re real And reality Does not disappear Because the hand prefers a different feel [Chorus] The grain was there before the blade Before the mark Before the trade Before the maker Named the shape The grain was there And would not wait The grain was there before the blade Running quiet Through the weight You can work the wood But you do not get To choose what came before your hand [Bridge] Ask the oak What years have done Ask the pine What way it runs Ask the knot What pressure stayed Ask the scar What weather made Ask the board Where weakness lies Ask the split What force denies Then put your bright design Against the thing And listen Before you cut [Breakdown] With the grain Across the grain Know the difference Name the strain With the grain Across the grain Force has consequence Even when it works The grain don’t care About your pride It only shows What lives inside [Verse 3] There are people like timber Carrying rings nobody sees There are rooms with old directions Buried under newer needs There are sentences already leaning Before the ink goes down There are wounds with grain That will not take The shape you planned around So the hand must learn A harder grace Not surrender Not erase But work beside What was already there And stop pretending Presence means Ownership of the air [Final Chorus] The grain was there before the blade Before the vow Before the trade Before the maker Named the shape The grain was there And would not wait The grain was there before the blade And every cut Must meet its weight The hand may choose Where steel comes down But not what history Already laid [Outro] Before the blade The grain Before the cut The grain Before the maker The grain Before the name The grain The hand arrives late And calls it beginning
