[Verse 1] I kept the medal in a kitchen drawer Beside the keys I never learned to mend Some doors swung wide; some closed before I knocked I called them endings, then began again [Pre-Chorus] You can see the whole road from the last page Every wrong turn had a name [Chorus] So read me as I was, not as I meant to be A hand that held, a hand that let things fall The good I gave, the hurt I couldn't see All of it belongs inside the story after all [Verse 2] Your old blue cup still wears a hairline crack The shelf we built leans slightly to the left I missed the years that asked me to come back Then learned to stay, though nothing paid me back [Pre-Chorus] You can see the whole road from the last page Every wrong turn had a name [Chorus] So read me as I was, not as I meant to be A hand that held, a hand that let things fall The good I gave, the hurt I couldn't see All of it belongs inside the story after all [Bridge] If I could speak across those paper years I'd tell that younger heart: keep room for change No life is only triumph or regret The sum is more than either one can claim [Final Chorus] So read me as I was, and let the pages close The brave, the vain, the tender, and the small I made a life from choices, some well made, some not And every line became the story after all [Outro] Set the book beside the window Let the final sentence rest
