It's not always easy

I did not find you waiting At the end of some golden road You were already in the weather With your sleeves rolled to the bone

You were there when the rooms were empty When the floorboards knew our names When the future was a candle And the nights were full of rain

I have seen you make a kingdom Out of bread, light, and tired hands I have watched you hold the morning Like it came because you planned

And I was not always easy I was not always wise But you kept a place beside me Where the better man survived

You are the woman beside the fire The quiet architect of my days The one who made a home from nothing And never asked the world for praise

You are the hand inside the thunder The roof when the sky came through If they ask me what I built here I will say I built it next to you

Next to you I built it next to you

There were bills on the table There were dreams we had to fold There were winters in the hallway There were stories left untold

But you laughed in the kitchen And the walls remembered spring You could turn an ordinary evening Into an almost sacred thing

I chased roads and distant windows I wore distance like a coat You kept love inside the house Like a lamp, like a boat

And every time I came back tired From the noise, from the race There was mercy in your silence There was daylight on your face

You are the woman beside the fire The quiet architect of my days The one who made a home from nothing And never asked the world for praise

You are the hand inside the thunder The roof when the sky came through If they ask me what I built here I will say I built it next to you

Next to you I built it next to you

The bass moves under midnight Like a heart beneath the floor The violins rise softly Like someone opening a door

And there you are, still standing Not polished, not pretending More beautiful than the promise Because you stayed through the bending

I do not need a monument I do not need my name in stone I have seen your shadow near mine And I know I was not alone

All the things I thought were mine Were never mine to claim You were the hidden river Running under everything

You are the woman beside the fire The quiet architect of my days The one who made a home from nothing And never asked the world for praise

You are the hand inside the thunder The roof when the sky came through If they ask me what I built here I will say I built it next to you

Next to you I built it next to you

If the years take down the garden If the paint falls from the door If the children find their own skies And do not need us like before

I will still know where to find you In the small light after rain In the cup beside the window In the music of your name

Not every love is lightning Some love is wood and flame Some love holds the whole house up And never signs its name

You are the woman beside the fire The quiet architect of my days The one who made a home from nothing And never asked the world for praise

You are the hand inside the thunder The roof when the sky came through If they ask me what I built here I will say I built it next to you

Next to you I built it next to you

Everything I ever became Had your fingerprints in blue If I have a life worth singing I built it next to you

Next to you I built it next to you