[INTRO — instrumental, stomping upright bass, sax stabs] [VERSE 1 — agitated, but smiling through it] She asked me to say a few words — that's her humor (ha) Twenty years of us and now I'm the warm-up rumor Before the real speeches — I ironed a shirt for this Drove four hours, practiced in the mirror like a therapist Was billing by the hour — stand up, tap the glass Whole room turns — there's her mom, there's our whole past In the third row — our kids in matching suits and lace Waving at their daddy — okay — keep the face Keep the face — start with the joke I rehearsed 'Bout the time we burned the turkey and the fire truck came first Big laugh — good — the room is on my side And there she is in white, and there she is, the bride [HOOK — cracked, half-yelled] A toast, a toast (raise it) To the road we didn't take, to the one she did A toast, a toast (raise it) Some love you hold, and some you lift (a toast) [VERSE 2 — whisper cracking up to yell] I don't say the kitchen in the first apartment Don't say the slow dance we never got department- Store right — always tripping on each other's shoes Don't say the last fight, don't say the lawyers, don't say the news I say: this woman taught me how to love out loud Taught me sorry ain't a word you mumble at a cloud And if the new man gets the best years of her laugh Then the new man better know he's standing on my half Of the map — the half I drew wrong, the half I didn't read And the room goes quiet — and I lift the glass and let it be To her — to him — to everybody who ever got it wrong And loved somebody anyway, and sang a second song [BRIDGE — drums pull back, bass only, close voice] My daughter catches my eye from the third row Mouths the word breathe — like she's the parent, oh I breathe — I smile — I mean it, mostly Some doors you close by standing close to — see [HOOK — soft now, almost gentle] A toast, a toast (raise it) To the road we didn't take, to the one she did A toast, a toast (raise it) Some love you hold, and some you lift [OUTRO — sax bursts soften and fade] (a toast... a toast...) Sit down, Brandon You did fine
