Lyrics
[Verse 1 — The Grandfather]
Youngest just one, oldest barely five,
Not long, but long enough that he came alive,
Stuck out his false teeth, made 'em squeal and laugh,
Bounced 'em on his knee, gave 'em nicknames that would last.
And I could have missed it,
Could have missed every bit of it,
If I'd stayed the boy who couldn't see,
What forgiveness gave to me.
[Verse 2 — The Divorce] I was young when the house split in two, Didn't understand what a child goes through, Just knew the rooms got quiet and strange, And nothing after would stay the same.
[Verse 3 — The Teenage Years / The Court] I lived under his roof while the lawyers fought, Two years of silence, a war we were caught, Then a judge looked past 'em all one day, Asked a boy of sixteen what he had to say.
"How old are you?" "Near seventeen." "Who do you want to live with?" "My mama," clean. Dad's lawyer choked — "Your honor, the money's an issue here," My mama said, "I don't want a cent, I just want him near."
[Chorus] And I could have missed it, Could have missed every bit of it, The floor, the hook, the gentle folk, If I'd stayed the boy who never spoke. I could have missed the best of him, Buried under years of sin and grief and sin, Thank God I didn't hold on tight To the dark and miss the light.
[Verse 4 — The Blindness] Grown and getting married, standing there, Trying to find one good word to share, Couldn't name a single thing about my dad, Just the wreckage, just the years I had.
[Verse 5 — The Prayer]
So I prayed, "Lord, open up my eyes,
Let me see him past the pain,"
And He did — memory by memory came back true,
Good things my father used to do.
I saw pieces of myself I loved,
Traits I carried, gifts from above,
That came from him, that came from us,
And the reframing changed the way I saw us.
[Chorus] And I could have missed it, Could have missed every bit of it, The floor, the hook, the gentle folk, If I'd stayed the boy who never spoke. I could have missed the best of him, Buried under years of sin and grief and sin, Thank God I didn't hold on tight To the dark and miss the light.
[Bridge — The Harvest] We worked it out before the kids were born, Reconciled before that early morn, He was never a Father Knows Best kind of man, But he showed up. He tried. He understood.
He became the granddad my children knew, Down on the floor, showing them what to do, And when he died, there was nothing left unsaid, No regret laid heavy on my head.
[Final Chorus] 'Cause I could have missed it, Could have missed every bit of it, The floor, the hook, the gentle folk, If I'd stayed the boy who never spoke. I could have missed the best of him, Buried under years of sin and grief and sin, Thank God I didn't hold on tight To the dark and miss the light.
[Outro]
I see him with my children still,
Teeth popped out, laughing at his own silly bit,
And I almost missed it. I almost did.
Thank God I didn't. Thank God I didn't.
