The Road and the Town and the Door

[Intro | Gathering Energy | Close Dramatic Delivery | Piano Pulse + Low String Pickup] The road kept going after dark So I kept going with it [Verse 1 | Driving Energy | Conversational Chest Delivery | Piano Ostinato + Pizzicato Strings] No sign told me I was close No mile looked different from the last Just fences leaning toward the road And headlights coming twice as fast My coat was folded on the seat My hands were steady on the wheel I used to need a certainty Before I'd trust what I could feel A gas station near the county line A woman drawing up the blind She couldn't tell me where you'd gone But pointed east and said, "You'll find" [Pre-Chorus | Building Energy | Rising Mix Delivery | Snare Lift + String Climb] So east became another mile Another mile became a choice And for the first time in a long time I didn't need another voice [Chorus | Explosive Energy | Open Belt + Layered Harmonies | Full Drums + Piano Octaves] The road and the town and the door That's all I came here knowing One leads to another leads to one more And I don't need to know where it's going No promise waiting at the end No guarantee I came here for Just the road And the town And the door [Post-Chorus | Defiant Energy | Tight Doubled Hook | Stomps + String Stabs] One more mile One more street One more handle Under my hand [Verse 2 | Driving Energy | Conversational Chest Delivery | Bass Motion + Piano Chords] The town was smaller than I pictured Two main streets and one red light A laundromat still turning slowly A diner open through the night I showed your name to the waitress She frowned and called somebody through A man beside the window thought He might have known somebody who Three people sent me three directions I tried them all and doubled back One house had flowers on the railing One had paint worn down to black [Pre-Chorus | Building Energy | Rising Mix Delivery | Snare Lift + Brass Push] I knocked until my knuckles hurt I heard the locks stay locked inside And every door that wasn't yours Was only somewhere else I'd tried [Chorus | Explosive Energy | Open Belt + Layered Harmonies | Full Drums + Piano Octaves] The road and the town and the door That's all I came here knowing One leads to another leads to one more And I don't need to know where it's going No promise waiting at the end No guarantee I came here for Just the road And the town And the door [Bridge | Suspended Energy | Intimate Mix Delivery | Solo Piano + Low Cello] I thought I'd be afraid by now I thought I'd need to rehearse What I would say if you were there What I would do if you weren't But I have crossed too many versions Of the woman I could be To put my name in someone else's hands And ask which one belongs to me [Build | Accelerating Energy | Urgent Chest Delivery | Timpani Pulse + Rising Strings] Then someone says "Try number four" White wooden steps A narrow porch No lights downstairs One upstairs on My heartbeat quickens I walk on Not because I know Not because I don't Not because you'll answer Because I will [Chorus | Peak Energy | Full Belt + Layered Counterlines | Full Drums + Orchestra Surge] The road and the town and the door I know what all of them were for Not to bring me back to someone Not to make me who I was before Whatever waits on the other side Cannot take away what brought me here I took the road I crossed the town Now I can open the door [Outro | Resolving Energy | Close Certain Delivery | Piano Return + Strings Holding] My hand fits cold around the knob No speech prepared No bargain left No version of myself to prove I turn it The latch gives way I push the door open— [End]