(Verse 1 - Early Steps) I remember early notebooks Full of lines that didn’t stay, Thoughts that tripped over each other But insisted anyway. A table full of half-made things, Ideas left halfway Back when every small beginning Felt like learning how to say. (Pre-Chorus - The Realization) I thought the goal was somewhere far, A place the work would land. (Chorus - The Journey) But it was the work along the way, The evenings and the tries. The patient little lessons Hidden in the quiet times. Not the moments that stood tallest, Not the ones that made display Just the steady life that gathered Through the work along the way. (Verse 2 - Learning The Craft) I learned to slow a sentence down, To listen when it stalled. To leave a line unfinished If it wasn’t true at all. Some pieces grew with patience, Some quietly slipped away And both of them were teachers In their own uneven way. (Pre-Chorus 2 - Growth) You don’t see the shape of growing While you're standing in the frame. (Chorus - The Practice) It was the work along the way, The drafts that didn’t last. The quiet understanding That some sparks move too fast. Not every thought turns into art, Not every road will stay But each one helped me travel Through the work along the way. (Verse 3 - The Quiet Seasons) There were weeks without a sentence, Days the notebook stayed closed tight. Not every season carries The same kind of light. But even in the stillness Something gentle seemed to say That rest belongs beside us On the work along the way. (Bridge - Looking Back Kindly) I didn’t build a monument, I didn’t chase a crown Just small things on a table Where I slowly wrote them down. And somewhere in the trying The years began to play A quiet kind of music In the work along the way. (Final Chorus - The Closing Bow) It was the work along the way, The craft and the repair. The sparks that came and wandered Through the open air. And if another idea comes Some ordinary day I’ll greet it like the rest of them: The work along the way.
