[INTRO — FELT PIANO] I never knew what love was Not really I knew the word I knew the shape I knew how to give it away But my own plate Stayed untouched [VERSE 1] Twelve years learning How to understand Thinking knowledge Could save a man Then everything collapsed Or so I called it But underneath the wreckage Something came alive The heart I couldn't reach Started beating again [PRE-CHORUS] I knew about the water But I wasn't in it I knew about love But I couldn't receive it [CHORUS] Leave the chair beside me Don't tell me I am late I have spent my whole life Learning how to wait Leave the chair beside me Let the room stay warm I don't need to solve love Before I let it come [VERSE 2] I've loved two young souls And I still miss them Somewhere in the story I learned to let them go And I've watched my parents Choose each other Morning after morning Annoyed and still in love I saw the ordinary miracle Of staying I just never knew How to find it for myself [VERSE 3] And I am gay And I am not ashamed Of the heart I was given I don't need to disappear To make love possible I don't need to become Someone I am not I want a man Whose heart belongs to God Who can laugh with me And stay when things get difficult Not perfect Just present [CHORUS] Leave the chair beside me Don't tell me I am late I have spent my whole life Learning how to wait Leave the chair beside me Let the room stay warm I don't need to solve love Before I let it come [BREAKDOWN — NEAR SILENCE] There was a man At a long table Everyone else was eating He understood the feast He knew every recipe He could feed everybody else But his own plate Stayed untouched And beside him An empty chair [SOFT MALE CHOIR] Take one bite Take one bite [BARITONE] You don't have to understand this first You can just receive [BUILD] So maybe tonight I eat Maybe tonight I stop studying the table Maybe tonight I let my heart Be part of its own life [WIDEST NARROW — OPEN 6/8] I am sad I am alone But my heart is alive And I can wait With it awake I can want a man Without making wanting him shame I can hope Without demanding tomorrow I can be held by God And still want someone's arms Both can be true [FINAL CHORUS — MALE CHOIR] Leave the chair beside me Let somebody come Let there be laughter Let there be ordinary love Leave the chair beside me But I will eat tonight I don't have to wait To begin my life [OUTRO] My heart is alive The table is still here The chair is still empty But I am eating And for tonight That is enough Amen.
