THE HOLE STILL KNOWS MY NAME (acoustic)

THE HOLE STILL KNOWS MY NAME

[Intro: soft piano, distant room tone]

[Verse 1: intimate, almost conversational]

I like the way a kindness lands
So lightly in another’s hands
A coffee bought, a door held wide
A little warmth against the tide

I like to catch somebody’s eyes
Just when they’re trying not to cry
To say the thing they needed said
To leave a little light instead

[Soft strings enter]

And when they smile
Something in me lifts

For half a second
Everything fits

[Pre-Chorus]

I give because it feels like air
I give because I want to care
I give because the world gets cold
And someone’s got to make it warm

[Chorus: drums and strings swell]

But the hole still knows my name
Even when the room is full of love

Even when somebody holds me close
And tells me I am enough

I believe them
God, I do

I feel the kindness coming through

But somewhere underneath the flame
The hole still knows my name

[Verse 2: fuller arrangement]

I love it when they think of me
A message sent at half past three
A hand upon my shoulder when
I didn’t know I needed one again

I keep those moments like small charms
Proof the world has gentle arms
And every time somebody stays
I think perhaps this time it fades

[Backing Vocal, soft]
Maybe now
Maybe now

[Lead]
But happiness can fill the room
And emptiness still finds the gloom

[Pre-Chorus]

It isn’t that the love feels false
It isn’t that I miss it all
I taste the sweetness
Feel it bloom

And still there’s one unfilled room

[Chorus]

The hole still knows my name
Even when the room is full of love

Even when somebody holds me close
And tells me I am enough

I believe them
God, I do

I feel the kindness coming through

But somewhere underneath the flame
The hole still knows my name

[Instrumental Break: piano melody, restrained guitar swells]

[Bridge: drums drop out]

Maybe I’m a house with open doors
Giving shelter from the storm

Maybe everybody leaves a flower
But the basement stays unborn

Maybe kindness isn’t meant to fix me
Maybe love is not repair

Maybe some things don’t stop hurting
Just because somebody cares

[Pause]

And maybe that can still be beautiful

[Strings rise]

Maybe meaning isn’t cure

Maybe being held inside the darkness
Still matters when the dark endures

[Final Chorus: huge, emotional]

SO THE HOLE STILL KNOWS MY NAME
AND THE ROOM IS STILL FULL OF LOVE

Someone takes my shaking hand
And somehow that is still enough

Not enough to make me whole
Not enough to fill the space

But enough to make me want to stay
And put some kindness in its place

[Choir]
Give it away
Let it return

[Lead]
Even if some corners never learn

[Choir]
Give it away
Let it remain

[Lead]
Love does not have to erase the pain

[Final Refrain: instruments pull back]

The hole still knows my name

But so do you

[Soft backing vocals]
So do you
So do you

[Lead]
And tonight

Maybe that’s enough
To get me through

[Outro: piano only]

I like the way a kindness lands
So lightly in another’s hands

[Long pause]

Maybe tomorrow
I’ll give another one

[Final unresolved piano chord]