How I Tried

[Verse 1]
I keep a list beside the sink
Of little things I meant to do
A call returned, a door held open
A borrowed coat brought back to you

[Pre-Chorus]
Some nights I count the good I gave
Some nights the names I let down
Which one will carry past my hands
When I am quiet, when I am gone?

[Chorus]
If love is what I leave behind
Let it be more than what I broke
A place to rest, a little help
A promise kept, a truth I spoke
But every tender thing I tried
Sits next to every time I failed
Tell me which story takes my name
When all the telling has gone still

[Verse 2]
I remember your unanswered call
The kitchen clock, the blue mug cracked
I said I’d come, I didn’t come
And you stopped asking after that

[Pre-Chorus]
I’ve tried to make a useful life
To leave the room a little kind
But every good thing has a seam
Where all my worst days show inside

[Chorus]
If love is what I leave behind
Let it be more than what I broke
A place to rest, a little help
A promise kept, a truth I spoke
But every tender thing I tried
Sits next to every time I failed
Tell me which story takes my name
When all the telling has gone still

[Bridge]
Maybe no single story wins
Maybe both are true at once
The hands that held, the hands that hurt
The words I gave, the ones I swallowed

[Final Chorus]
If love is what I leave behind
Let it be something people use
A meal, a ride, a patient ear
A second chance I didn’t lose
And when my last day comes around
I hope the whole of me is seen
Not only where I fell short
But how I tried to make amends

[Outro]
How I tried
How I tried