Taking the Years

[Verse 1]
I kept your laugh in the wrong old song,
Played it too loud when the nights ran long.
You knew my worst and my Sunday best,
Then watched me change with your hand on my chest.

[Pre-Chorus]
We made a language out of almost,
Kept saying later like later was ours.
I can be grateful without reaching;
I can let go of what we were.

[Chorus]
Goodbye to the loves I outgrew,
To the versions of me that belonged there with you.
I won’t call it wasted, I won’t call it fate;
You gave me a season, I gave you a name.
Goodbye, and I mean it kindly—
I’m taking the years, not asking them back.

[Verse 2]
One summer ended beneath a red sky,
One winter left with a joke and a sigh.
Some names still catch in the middle of speech,
But they don’t get to decide what I keep.

[Pre-Chorus]
We made a language out of almost,
Kept saying later like later was ours.
I can be grateful without reaching;
I can let go of what we were.

[Chorus]
Goodbye to the loves I outgrew,
To the versions of me that belonged there with you.
I won’t call it wasted, I won’t call it fate;
You gave me a season, I gave you a name.
Goodbye, and I mean it kindly—
I’m taking the years, not asking them back.

[Bridge]
If we meet when the years have softened our edges,
I’ll say your name and I’ll stay where I am.
You were real; you were dear; you were never a failure.
I can bless what we had and still leave it behind.

[Final Chorus]
Goodbye to the loves I outgrew,
To the versions of me that belonged there with you.
I won’t call it wasted, I won’t call it fate;
You gave me a season, I gave you a name.
Goodbye, and I mean it kindly—
I’m taking the years, not asking them back.

[Outro]
I’m taking the years.
I’m letting you go.