How Much Do I Need

[Verse 1]
How many names must I carve in stone
Before the years leave me alone?
How many rooms, how many hands
Before I outlive what I planned?

I count the faces in the frame
Each little victory feeds the flame
The calendar tears, the mirrors change
I keep building against the age

[Pre-Chorus]
If I conquer every summit
If I make the whole world know
Will the silence call me lasting
When the last bright banners fold?

[Chorus]
How much do I need to become immortal?
How far can I run from the closing door?
If the whole world carries my name tomorrow
Will I still be here when I need it more?
How much do I need, how much do I need?
Or is forever just a hunger wearing victory?

[Verse 2]
I put my fingerprints in books
I teach the young to chase my looks
I leave a message in the brick
A louder monument, a cleaner myth

But every statue gathers rain
Every headline fades beneath the next campaign
I hear my pulse inside the crowd
It sounds so small when they get loud

[Pre-Chorus]
If I turn my grief to marble
If I make my failure gold
Will a stranger speak me gently
When the story gets retold?

[Chorus]
How much do I need to become immortal?
How far can I run from the closing door?
If the whole world carries my name tomorrow
Will I still be here when I need it more?
How much do I need, how much do I need?
Or is forever just a hunger wearing victory?

[Bridge]
Maybe immortality is one kid keeping your advice
One scar that taught somebody else to choose a different life
Maybe it is not the tower, not the anthem, not the throne
Maybe I survive in every heart I helped feel less alone

[Breakdown]
No more counting
No more proof
No more bargaining with the truth
If I vanish, let the good remain
Not my face, but what I changed

[Final Chorus]
How much did I need to become immortal?
I spent my life running toward a door
Now the hands I held are carrying forward
And I don't have to be afraid anymore
How much did I need? I needed one thing:
A life that leaves a little more mercy than it brings

[Outro]
Let the years erase the name
Let the people keep the flame
If I am gone when morning comes
Let what I gave keep moving on