Room For You

[Verse 1 | intimate female vocal | soft piano] Christmas lights in every window Everybody gathered round One place no one looked toward One name we wouldn't sound I made it through the dinner I smiled until I couldn't stay Then I ran out through the front door Like I could outrun Christmas Day You found me in the cold You didn't tell me not to cry Didn't say that time would heal me Didn't need to tell me why You just stayed there Till I could breathe again I didn't have a word for you then [Chorus | acoustic guitar enters | warm, restrained] There's room for you I know that now You never had to take her place I don't know why I thought somehow That love could only fill one space She's my mother She always will be Nothing changes what is true Loving her with all my heart Still leaves room for you [Verse 2 | gentle forward motion] You took me shopping for Oxford Said the clothes I owned wouldn't do I said they cared about my answers You said, "They'll notice those things too" You found the jacket, fixed the collar Turned me toward the looking glass Said, "There she is. That's who they'll see." Like there was never any doubt I'd pass And standing there beside you Trying not to smile too wide I wondered what she'd think of me And wished that you could both be by my side [Chorus | soft strings join] There's room for you I know that now You never had to take her place Love doesn't ask me to forget Or give one memory away She's my mother She always will be Nothing changes what is true Every part of me that still loves her Can make room for you [Verse 3 | piano forward | close vocal] Graduation morning Four years gone somehow And I'm still missing something That seems obvious to you now You ask me one small question And suddenly I understand Why every road keeps turning toward him Why I'm always reaching for his hand Maybe Mom would say it differently Maybe she'd have known me another way But you had lived the things you told me You knew exactly what to say And that's when I finally understood What I should have always known You weren't standing in her place You were standing in your own [Final Chorus | warm strings | no belting] There's room for you There always was Love never asks us to erase It doesn't trade one heart for another It only makes another place She's my mother She always will be And I am still her little girl But she isn't less because I love you There's just more love in my world [Outro | piano and acoustic guitar] Christmas Oxford Graduation day Three times you stood beside me In your own quiet way I wish that she could know you [soft pause] Maybe she does I think she'd make room too