[INTRO — MUTED TRUMPET, BRUSHED DRUMS, UPRIGHT BASS, SOFT PIANO] [MALE LEAD ONLY — WARM 1940s CROONER BARITONE] For a while I thought sorrow was a promise. That if I ever laughed again I'd broken it. [VERSE 1 — MALE LEAD ONLY] I kept the curtains drawn long after morning came. Left your picture where it was. Wouldn't move a thing. I thought the room should stay the same if you could not. And every little happiness felt somehow disloyal. [PRE-CHORUS — MALE LEAD ONLY] But memory never asked me to turn the lights out. Love never said: "If I am gone, you must go dark." [CHORUS — MALE LEAD + SOFT MALE HARMONIES] ONCE MORE, I SMILE! NOT BECAUSE I'VE FORGOTTEN YOU. ONCE MORE, I SMILE! BECAUSE SOME GOOD STILL MADE IT THROUGH. THE HEART CAN MISS WHAT IT CAN'T KEEP AND STILL WAKE UP FROM WINTER'S SLEEP. ONCE MORE, I SMILE— AND NOTHING WE HAD BECOMES LESS TRUE. [SHORT HORN TURN] [VERSE 2 — MALE LEAD ONLY] The first time I caught myself laughing, I stopped. As though the sound had entered the wrong house. Then I remembered how you laughed. How you'd roll your eyes when I took myself too seriously. [PAUSE] You would've hated the museum I'd made of grief. [PRE-CHORUS — MALE LEAD ONLY] A photograph can stay. A chair can stay empty. But I don't have to become another empty thing. [CHORUS — MALE LEAD + MALE HARMONIES] ONCE MORE, I SMILE! NOT TO CLOSE THE DOOR ON YOU. ONCE MORE, I SMILE! I'M LETTING MORNING THROUGH. THE LOVE I LOST CAN HAVE ITS PLACE WITHOUT REMOVING EVERY TRACE OF JOY THAT STILL HAS WORK TO DO. [INSTRUMENTAL — CLARINET, MUTED TRUMPET, PIANO] [VERSE 3 — MALE LEAD ONLY] Some days still hurt. Some songs still stop me cold. Some nights I speak your name to nobody. That hasn't changed. Maybe it doesn't have to. Grief can keep a chair at my table without owning the whole house. [BRIDGE — STRINGS ENTER SOFTLY] [MALE LEAD ONLY] There is no betrayal in breathing. No disloyalty in spring. No insult to December when April opens everything. I don't honor love by refusing to live after it. [FINAL CHORUS — FULL ORCHESTRA + MALE HARMONIES] ONCE MORE, I SMILE! AND YES, I STILL REMEMBER. ONCE MORE, I SMILE! THE FIRE SURVIVED DECEMBER. I'LL KEEP YOUR NAME. I'LL KEEP THE YEARS. I'LL KEEP THE LOVE. I'LL KEEP THE TEARS. BUT SORROW DOESN'T GET EVERY TOMORROW. ONCE MORE, I SMILE! THE WINDOW'S WIDE. THE DOOR IS OPEN. MORNING'S OUTSIDE. AND IF JOY COMES KNOCKING— I WON'T ASK IT TO APOLOGIZE. [OUTRO — PIANO, BRUSHES, MUTED TRUMPET] [MALE LEAD ONLY — VERY QUIET] I thought smiling again would mean I loved you less. [PAUSE] Turns out it means I'm still here.
