[Intro] This one’s for the dads… The ones who never asked for credit… But earned every bit of it… [Verse 1] Before the first light touched the fields, He was already gone. Coffee steaming on the dashboard, AM radio playing songs. Steel-toed boots and weathered hands, Punching clocks and working late. I thought my dad could fix anything, Didn’t know he was shaping my fate. Riding shotgun in that old truck, Watching the world roll by… Never knowing every mile he drove Was teaching me how to try. [Pre-Chorus] Back then I thought he was just working… Now I understand… He was building something bigger Than any house or piece of land. [Chorus] ’Cause the hands that raised us… Were stronger than we knew. Holding up the whole wide world… While helping us get through. They gave us roots to stand on… And wings enough to fly. And every time we fall apart… We hear their voice inside. The older that I get… The more I understand… The greatest gift God ever gave… Was the hands that raised us. [Verse 2] Years rolled by like freight trains, Fast as summer disappears. Now I catch myself saying things He told me through the years. Sometimes I see him in the mirror, In the lines around my eyes. And I thank God for every lesson Hidden in his quiet life. The silver found its way into his hair, But never touched his heart. Some men leave behind possessions… Some leave who you are. [Bridge] One day the truck gets parked forever… The front porch chair sits still. The stories turn to photographs… But somehow they’re with us still. In every grandchild’s laugh… In every lesson passed along… The hands that raised a family… Keep holding on. [Final Chorus] ‘Cause the hands that raised us… Still guide us from afar. They’re in every road we travel… In every dream we are. They taught us how to stand back up… When life knocked us down. And even after they’re gone… Their fingerprints are found. The older that I get… The more I understand… I never outgrew my father’s love… I just finally learned how big it was. [Outro] I still see those weathered hands… Every time I look down at my own…
