[Intro – slow blues guitar, soft piano, quiet harmonica] Oh yeah… Sometimes the heart carries more than the shoulders show. [Verse 1 – deep, raspy vocals] I wake up, the morning’s quiet, grey clouds hanging in the sky. There’s still a glass left on the table, like time forgot to say goodbye. There’s a heartbeat in my chest that still has trouble trusting me. Sometimes it burns like fire, sometimes it turns to stone completely. [Pre-Chorus – piano grows stronger, guitar answers the vocals] I carry questions through the night, I’ve cried and still learned how to smile. Every scar that I reveal shows that I’m still standing here. [Chorus – full slow blues, call-and-response backing vocals] Oh, these emotions pull me back and forth, [Backing Vocals:] Back and forth… Sometimes they’re like a river, sometimes a storm across the sea. [Backing Vocals:] Across the sea… I laugh against the tears, I dance against the pain, between heart and shadow, I’m searching for my heart again. [Backing Vocals:] Find your heart… [Verse 2 – muted guitar, gentle harmonica fills] There are days when I feel stronger, walking with my scars through town. And there are nights so deep and heavy when I don’t know who I am now. There’s anger burning in my stomach, hope still knows the way back home. Fear comes knocking at my doorway, maybe it doesn’t have to stand alone. [Pre-Chorus – rising drums, emotional vocals] I’ve learned to turn around and face the shadows from my yesterday. What once dragged me to the ground is only smoke and dust now. [Chorus – stronger, with a raw lead-guitar response] Oh, these emotions pull me back and forth, [Backing Vocals:] Back and forth… Sometimes they’re like a river, sometimes a storm across the sea. [Backing Vocals:] Across the sea… I laugh against the tears, I dance against the pain, between heart and shadow, I’m searching for my heart again. [Backing Vocals:] Find your heart… [Instrumental Break – 12 bars, expressive slide guitar, piano responses, short harmonica solo] [Bridge – almost spoken, intimate, only piano and guitar] And when the night calls out the names of everything I tried to hide, I sing a whisper to the wall: “I’m still here, I’m still alive. I still have a hand upon this life, even when my mirror breaks inside.” [Call and Response – lead vocal and choir] I’m still here! [Choir:] Still here! I still can feel! [Choir:] Still feel! I carry pain! [Choir:] In your heart! But I won’t give up! [Choir:] Don’t give up! [Verse 3 – restrained at first, slowly building] Maybe healing isn’t straight, maybe sometimes steps go back. Maybe peace is not complete silence, but a heart that dares to feel again. I take my sorrow by the hand, walk with it through unknown land. And when the sun goes down, I know it will rise again tomorrow. [Final Chorus – powerful, emotional blues chorus] Oh, these emotions pull me back and forth, sometimes they’re like a river, sometimes a storm across the sea. I laugh with all my tears, I share the weight of pain, between heart and shadow, I find my heart again. Yes, these emotions don’t make me small, they prove that I’m alive through it all. And when the final blue note fades into the night, I know my heart still has a story, my heart is still alive. [Outro – slowly fading slide guitar, harmonica and soft piano] Blues inside my soul, fire in the night, everything I feel has brought me to this side. Between heart and shadow, step by step, I’m learning how to take myself back. [Final line – whispered] Yeah… I’m learning how to take myself back.
