THE DAYS AHEAD

[Intro: soft piano, distant tape hiss]

[Spoken, intimate]
I used to think
the best day of my life
had already happened.

[Pause]

What a strange thing
to decide so early.

[Verse 1: piano only]

I remember rooms that disappeared
Faces I can still see clear
Summer nights that felt like gold
Promises I thought I’d always hold

There were mornings I would live again
There were nights I thought would never end
Little victories, private scars
Tiny worlds beneath enormous stars

[Strings enter softly]

And I used to hold those memories
Like evidence of who I’d been

[Pre-Chorus: bass enters]

But memory isn’t prophecy
And yesterday can’t tell me when

The next great door will open
Or the next hard rain begins

[Chorus: full drums, wide guitars]

MY BEST DAYS HAVEN’T HAPPENED YET
MY WORST DAYS MAY BE WAITING TOO

There are loves I haven’t stumbled into
There are losses I don’t yet know how to lose

There are songs I’ve never heard
There are names I’ve never said

So I’ll treasure every road behind me

But I won’t live there instead

[Post-Chorus: backing vocals]

[Choir]
Not finished!
Not finished!

[Lead]
Not even close

[Verse 2: steady groove]

I remember being twenty-something
Certain I knew everything

Every ending felt eternal
Every heartbreak wore a crown like a king

Now I smile at old disasters
Some became the roads I needed most

Some mistakes became my teachers
Some goodbyes became a ghost

[Backing Vocals, soft]
Keep them
Thank them
Let them go

[Lead]
Every version of me carried
Something forward I didn’t know

[Pre-Chorus]

Maybe wisdom isn’t knowing
How the story ought to end

Maybe wisdom is appreciating
Every chapter while it bends

[Chorus]

MY BEST DAYS HAVEN’T HAPPENED YET
MY WORST DAYS MAY BE WAITING TOO

There are cities I haven’t woken in
There are people who will change my point of view

There are tears I haven’t earned
There are laughs still up ahead

So I’ll love every life I’ve already lived

But I won’t live there instead

[Instrumental Break: soaring guitar melody]

[Piano answers]

[Guitar rises]

[Drums drop out]

[Bridge: intimate vocal, strings underneath]

Maybe there will come a morning
That makes every morning pale

Maybe there will come a winter
When I swear that I have failed

Maybe someone I don’t know yet
Will become impossible to lose

Maybe I’ll become somebody
That today I couldn’t choose

[Pause]

That’s the terrifying beauty

[Heartbeat kick enters]

Nothing’s finished
Nothing’s known

Every year removes a certainty

And somehow makes the world more open

[Build: toms, strings, rising synth]

[Lead]
So here’s to all the foolish nights

[Backing Choir]
We survived!

[Lead]
Here’s to every wrong and right

[Choir]
Still alive!

[Lead]
Here’s to everyone I loved

And every person I became

I wouldn’t burn a single chapter

Just because I turned the page

[Final Chorus: huge key change]

MY BEST DAYS HAVEN’T HAPPENED YET
MY WORST DAYS HAVEN’T EITHER

There are storms still gathering somewhere
There are sunsets I will watch in better weather

I will break
I will mend
I will lose
I will begin

And I’ll carry every beautiful mistake
Into whatever comes again

[Choir]
Keep going!
Keep going!

[Lead]
There’s more than what I’ve seen

[Choir]
Keep going!
Keep going!

[Lead]
There’s more than what I’ve been

[Final Refrain: music pulls back]

I loved the days behind me

Even the ones that hurt

They taught my hands what holding means
They taught my heart its worth

But somewhere past tomorrow
There’s a moment I’ll call mine

And I haven’t met the person yet
Who’ll be living it inside

[Outro: piano only]

[Soft Vocal]

The best day of my life?

[Pause]

Ask me when it’s over.

[Final unresolved chord]

[Whispered Choir]
Not finished yet.