[Verse 1] Frost on the swings in the empty park Breath like smoke in the thinning dark Silent roofs wearing paper-thin snow Something small in the soil says “go” [Pre-Chorus] I feel it under my feet In every crack in the street A quiet tremor A heartbeat Coming alive Coming alive [Chorus] When winter lets go And the sunlight spills over the edge of the world Little green fists Push through the cold All the flags are unfurled I was asleep in my own skin Now I’m waking with the roots again When winter lets go When winter lets go of me [Verse 2] Old gray field Now a muted drum Birdsong tests out a stumbling hum Bare black trees trade their broken crowns For tiny lanterns of pale green sound [Pre-Chorus] You can hear it in the air That thin crack in the prayer Where a single warm breath Pushes back death Pushes back death [Chorus] When winter lets go And the sunlight spills over the edge of the world Little green fists Push through the cold All the flags are unfurled I was asleep in my own skin Now I’m waking with the roots again When winter lets go When winter lets go of me [Bridge] [Strings swell Drums tumble in] Meltwater rivers trace Old scars in the hill’s face Every stone Every sleeping seed Whispers “wait Wait” then “leave” Hands out the window (hey!) Eyes full of gold Every brittle story Suddenly grows [Chorus] When winter lets go And the sunlight spills over the edge of the world Little green fists Push through the cold All the flags are unfurled I was asleep in my own skin Now I’m laughing like the streams again When winter lets go When winter lets go of me
