Pass It On

[Intro: lone piano and distant voices]
A paper cup rolls by the station stairs
You stop to catch it; someone sees you there
A small held door, a name remembered right
Can change the weather in a stranger's night

[Verse 1]
You saved a seat beside the window
For the nurse whose shift ran late
She came back with a warm introduction
To the shop that needed help that day
One open hand became a doorway
One kind word became a key
A chance passed on from you to someone
Came back wider than it used to be

[Pre-Chorus]
No grand design, no perfect plan
Just room made by a human hand
And every time you make room, another can

[Chorus]
Pass it on, pass it on
Let a little good keep moving
Give somebody ground to stand on
Watch a closed door start improving
One bright chance becomes two more
Kindness turns the key again
When you lift somebody forward
They can lift somebody then

[Verse 2: jagged riff, quick phrasing]
You tell the new kid, “Take your time here”
You show the trick they missed last week
They make a place for one more voice now
And ask the shy one what they think
A ride across town, a clear reference
A second look at someone’s work
These aren’t favors lost to distance
They’re seeds that travel through the dirt

[Pre-Chorus]
A little trust can change the scale
A chance to try, a softer fail
A hand that helps another hand set sail

[Chorus]
Pass it on, pass it on
Let a little good keep moving
Give somebody ground to stand on
Watch a closed door start improving
One bright chance becomes two more
Kindness turns the key again
When you lift somebody forward
They can lift somebody then

[Instrumental: intricate keyboard figure, angular guitars, half-time electronic drop]

[Bridge: piano and strings]
Maybe you never learn the ending
Of the help you gave away
Maybe years from now a stranger
Gets a chance because you stayed
No tally kept, no ribbon waiting
Just a life made less alone
And somewhere down the turning road
Your kindness finds its way back home

[Build]
A seat becomes a welcome
A welcome makes a team
A team gives someone footing
To attempt a larger dream

[Final Chorus: key change, choir and full-band drop]
Pass it on, pass it on
Let a little good keep moving
Give somebody ground to stand on
Watch a closed door start improving
One bright chance becomes two more
Every open hand can send
A better path through one small moment
Round the bend and round again

[Outro: piano, soft choir]
You made room
They made room
Now there’s room for someone new
Pass it on
Pass it on
Let the next good thing begin