THE LONG WAY HOME

[Intro: soft acoustic guitar, light piano]

The morning left some silver
On the edges of the street
And the trees were making shadows
That kept moving with my feet

There was coffee through a window
There were sparrows on a wire
There was nothing much important

Which was exactly what I required

[Verse 1]

I passed a house with flowers
Growing wild along the gate
And wondered who had planted them
And whether they still stayed

I watched a man walk slowly
With his dog beside his knee
And thought how many ordinary things
Become a memory

[Pre-Chorus]

Maybe life is not a question
With an answer at the end

Maybe it is mostly noticing
What you almost missed again

[Chorus]

So I’ll take the long way home
Let the afternoon unfold

Let the wind rearrange
All the things I thought I knew

I don’t need to solve my life
Before the daylight disappears

I can walk
I can wonder

I can simply be here

[Instrumental: gentle guitar melody]

[Verse 2]

There’s a child drawing circles
With a stick along the ground
There’s a couple at a corner
Laughing at some private sound

There’s a bus I could have taken
There’s a place I have to be

But for once the clock can wait
A little while for me

I have spent so many mornings
Trying to outrun the day

As if getting somewhere faster
Makes the distance mean a thing

[Pre-Chorus]

Maybe all the years behind me
Were not roads I chose in vain

Every wrong turn left me standing
Somewhere worth a little rain

[Chorus]

So I’ll take the long way home
Let the afternoon unfold

Let the wind rearrange
All the things I thought I knew

I don’t need to solve my life
Before the daylight disappears

I can walk
I can wonder

I can simply be here

[Bridge: stripped down, piano and voice]

I think about the people
I have loved and let go by

The ones I should have called more
The ones still by my side

I think about ambition
And the things I said I’d do

How some of them still matter

And some I simply outgrew

[Pause]

There are dreams that need pursuing

There are dreams that need release

There are days for making history

And days for finding peace

[Build: drums enter softly]

Maybe wisdom isn’t knowing
What tomorrow ought to be

Maybe wisdom is remembering

To look up occasionally

[Final Chorus: fuller arrangement]

So I’ll take the long way home
While the evening turns to gold

Watch the windows come alive
As the air begins to cool

I don’t need a grand conclusion
I don’t need the world explained

There is sunlight through the branches

There is pavement after rain

There are people passing by me

There are places left to roam

And sometimes being alive
Is just taking

The long way home

[Outro: soft guitar, footsteps ambience]

One more corner
One more street

One more thought
Beneath my feet

[Lead, softly]

I’ll get there when I do

[Final piano chord]