Verse 1 Leonard Cohen on a Sunday morning Oyster shooters and a Bloody in her hand Sunlight dancing through a window in Chicago Soulful songs and dreams she couldn’t understand Back then she measured love in careful questions Can you hear the things I never say aloud? If I give enough, will you finally see me? Will you find me standing somewhere in the crowd? Pre-Chorus But time has a way of breaking old illusions And teaching what survives when they fall apart Chorus Love is on the inside Not waiting to be found Not hiding in a prince upon a white horse Not buried underground It’s a tail that starts wagging A garden after rain The jasmine on the evening wind A heart that healed its pain Love is on the inside A quiet, steady light And when you learn to carry it The whole world shines at night ⸻ Verse 2 She built herself a little sanctuary Not just walls and windows, fields and trees But a place where fear could finally surrender And a weary soul could breathe Dogs are sleeping, cats are purring softly Moonlight settling gently on the floor Nothing missing, nothing left to chase now Just gratitude and something more Pre-Chorus Because peace is not a gift that someone gives you It’s a garden that you grow with your own hands Chorus Love is on the inside Not waiting to be found Not hiding in a prince upon a white horse Not buried underground It’s a horse that softly nickers A child who wears your smile A friend who shows up when the storm comes And stays a little while Love is on the inside A quiet, steady light And when you learn to carry it The whole world shines at night ⸻ Bridge She walked through fire carrying self-doubt Years of being told she wasn’t enough Crazy, broken, difficult, impossible Till she discovered none of that was love Therapy, tears and long-forgotten courage Putting down the anger she had known And standing in a room she once feared entering Finally feeling safe inside her own soul ⸻ Final Chorus Love is on the inside The lesson all along The frequency beneath the noise The meaning in the song It’s integrity and kindness It’s trust that doesn’t bend It’s sharing what you’ve grown with those you cherish Again and again Love is on the inside The place where all roads start And every beautiful thing she ever searched for Was growing in her heart ⸻ Outro (spoken/sung like Leonard Cohen) Make a kid smile. Feed the dog an egg. Watch the moon rise. Listen to the cat purr. Most things we worry about never happen anyway. Love isn’t someone coming to save you. Love is the way you live.
