All These Years

[Verse 1] There is a giant in the valley Older than the oldest road Cast its shadow through the summers Held the weight of winter snow Every spring it dressed in green leaves Every autumn turned to gold Generations took their pictures Beside the story it still told Children carved their little secrets Into places they could reach Lovers gathered underneath it Whispering what hearts will keep No one thought to count the seasons No one measured what was lost No one saw the quiet hunger Growing underneath the moss [Pre-Chorus] Tall things carry their own burdens Long before they start to bend Even giants have their breaking Even forests have an end [Chorus] From the road it looks eternal From the path it looks the same Every branch still reaching upward Every leaf still knows its name But the heartwood has been changing While the outside stayed unchanged Something dying in the center While the surface held its shape Some hearts spend a lifetime Giving everything they store Wearing sunlight like a promise With a hollow at the core [Post-Chorus] All these years... All these years... No one saw... No one saw... [Verse 2] Lightning never found the center Rain could never wash it clean Something smaller did the damage Patient as a quiet dream Tiny mouths beneath the grain line Working where the eye can't go Years of careful celebration Growing something no one knows Children carved their names upon it Families gathered every June Photographs kept proving life there Truth was living somewhere removed [Pre-Chorus 2] Every ring became a record Every year another page A thousand signs beneath the surface Buried underneath the praise [Chorus] From the road it looks eternal From the path it looks the same Every branch still reaching upward Every leaf still knows its name But the heartwood has been changing While the outside stayed unchanged Something dying in the center While the surface held its shape Some hearts spend a lifetime Giving everything they store Wearing sunlight like a promise With a hollow at the core [Post-Chorus] All these years... All these years... No one saw... No one saw... [Bridge] One day the birds will notice One day the branches won't return One day the hands that touched the surface Will finally feel what burned Not from lightning Not from thunder Not from anything that falls Just the weight of years collected In the center of it all [Final Chorus] From the road it looked eternal From the path it looked the same Every branch still reaching upward Every leaf still knew its place But the heartwood had been changing While the outside held its shape All the years of standing tall Could not keep the inside safe Some hearts spend a lifetime Giving everything they store Looking like a forest giant Long after they are hollowed through