Tangled Touch

When I was twenty,

life looked simple Just follow every road they drew

Get a good job,

find a little place And love would somehow find you too

So I worked while others fell in love Built a future brick

by brick

Never stopped to ask myself What if love don’t work like this

{close male lead vocal over warm keys}

I kept my heart in order

Kept my hope in line

But every door I opened Left a little more behind {harmonies begin

to rise} So tell me How many almosts make a man How

many chapters never land How many times can hope survive Before it

starts to shake in your hands I’m not angry I’m just tired

Of waving at a life That never stayed long enough to be

mine {full hook with layered male harmonies}

Then came a girl who read about monks She smiled like everything

was light We played golf beneath the summer sun Talked for hours

until the night She looked at me and softly said I’d like

to keep you in my life But somewhere between friend and love

She couldn’t cross the other side

{drums pull back for storytelling} Weeks later in the heat of June

I asked how she had been

Silence answered every word And I felt that same ache again {snare

fill into chorus} So tell me How many almosts make a man

How many chapters never land How many times can hope survive Before

it starts to shake in your hands I’m not angry I’m just

tired Of waving at a life That never stayed long enough to

be mine {chorus returns with fuller drums} Then another heart walked through

the door With little hearts inside her texts

She called me sweet,

she made me laugh She promised we’d meet next But every plan

became someday

Every Friday slipped away Until one message finally said You’re wonderful,

just not for me {bass and drums lock tighter} I wasn’t shocked

My heart already knew Sometimes your soul arrives Before the truth catches

up to you {brief stop before chorus} So tell me How many

almosts make a man How many chapters never land How many times

can hope survive Before it starts to shake in your hands I’m

not broken Just bruised Trying to believe Love hasn’t already chosen someone

new {chorus variation with aching harmony}

She said once

You’re exactly the kind of man I wish I could fall in

love with Funny how one soft sentence Can hold two things at

once The warmest little memory And the deepest kind of hurt

She cried

I cried Not because we hated each other But because sometimes Two

good people Still become The saddest goodbye

{stripped bridge into quiet falsetto} Now tomorrow waits in another city Another

stranger Another chance

Maybe she’s only another chapter Maybe she’s the one who reads my

soul at a glance Maybe not But I’ll still show up With

my heart held open wide If love comes in,

I’ll let it in No matter how many times I’ve tried {hopeful

rebuild} So if you’re listening somewhere tonight And wondering why I’m still

alone It isn’t that I stopped believing It’s that my heart kept

opening home Sometimes she stayed for coffee

Sometimes she stayed for weeks Sometimes she stayed long enough To show

me what forever almost means I’m not angry I’m just tired

Of waving at a life That never stayed long enough to be

mine {final chorus peak with full vocal stacks} One day Someone will

ask me Why I never gave up And I’ll smile Because nobody

saw How many nights I almost did But every morning I got

up And believed again

{piano and voice

fade}