[Verse 1]
Before the name, before the face
Before you took your hiding place
There was a simple, quiet glow
A wordless sense of “I am” below

No “this is mine”, no “this is me”
Just open sky, just being free
No role to hold, no mask to wear
Only the feeling of being here

[Refrain]
Before the story, there was only light
Just a living presence, soft and bright
Long before the heart learned loss and glory
You were the silence before the story

[Verse 2]
Then came the voices, soft and loud
Teaching you how to join the crowd
“This is your name, this is your part”
Layers of paint on a tender heart

Some of it gentle, some of it rough
Slowly you thought, “I am this stuff”
But underneath the joy and pain
That first clear being still remains

[Refrain]
Before the story, there was only light
Just a living presence, soft and bright
Long before the heart learned loss and glory
You were the silence before the story

[Bridge]
If you close your eyes and breathe in slow
Feel the place where you quietly glow
Nothing to fix and nowhere to go
Only the simple “I am” you know

[Final Refrain]
Before the story, there is still that light
Right here in this moment, shining bright
Under every ending, every new story
You are the silence before the story

[Verse 1]
Here in the middle of a restless mind
Stories are circling all the time
Memories rising, futures in bloom
Echoes of voices filling the room

I feel the currents pull me along
Fear in the shadows, hope in a song
But somewhere deeper, quiet and kind
Something is watching all of this wind

[Refrain]
I am the quiet witness
Still, behind it all
Here before the first thought
Here after they fall
I am the quiet witness
Nothing to prove or say
Just an open presence
That never goes away

[Verse 2]
Two little birds in the same green tree
One tastes the fruit of joy and grief
Sweetness and bitterness, day after day
Losing and finding along the way

The other sits in a circle of light
Clear as the sky in the heart of the night
Seeing it all, yet never entangled
Watching the branches twist and untangle

[Refrain]
I am the quiet witness
Still, behind it all
Here before the first thought
Here after they fall
I am the quiet witness
Nothing to prove or say
Just an open presence
That never goes away

[Bridge]
Thoughts can rise and fall like waves
I stay here, wide and brave
Every feeling comes to rest
In this silent, open chest

[Final Refrain]
I am the quiet witness
Still, behind it all
Here before the first thought
Here after they fall
I am the quiet witness
Nothing I need to be
Just this quiet seeing
Forever here in me

[Verse 1]
I thought I was the face in the glass
Lines of the years and shadows that pass
I thought I was the name that they called
The list of my roles on a page on the wall

I thought I was the rise and the fall
Of every triumph, every close call
But there is something deeper than that
Softly whispering, “not this, not that”

[Refrain]
Not this, not that
Not the stories I wear like a mask
Not this, not that
I am the one who’s watching all that
Not this, not that
Underneath, so quiet and vast
Not this, not that
I am the space that holds all that

[Verse 2]
I thought I was the mood of the day
High like the sun or drifting away
I thought I was the fear in my chest
The spiral of doubt that would not rest

I thought I was the echo of blame
Every old wound still calling my name
But there is something kinder than that
Softly singing, “not this, not that”

[Refrain]
Not this, not that
Not the wave that breaks and then cracks
Not this, not that
I am the sea beneath all that
Not this, not that
Deeper still than sorrow and laugh
Not this, not that
I am the heart that holds all that

[Bridge]
Neti, neti, the old words say
“Not this, not that” as you peel away
Until what’s left is simple and clear
Just quiet being, always here

[Final Refrain]
Not this, not that
Not the storm, not the thunderclap
Not this, not that
I am the sky beyond all that
Not this, not that
Endless, gentle, open and vast
Not this, not that
I am the space that holds all that

[Verse 1]
In every crowded city street
A thousand hearts, a thousand beats
Different stories, joy and ache
Different paths that people take

Different voices, soft and loud
Different fears they’re not allowed
But underneath these separate places
There is one light, many faces

[Refrain]
One light, many faces
One fire in a thousand places
You and I, and all these traces
Are one light, one light, many faces

[Verse 2]
The one who laughs, the one who cries
The one who quietly survives
The one who prays, the one who doubts
The one who feels they’re inside out

All the colors, all the names
All the losses, all the gains
All these little shining spaces
Held by one light, many faces

[Refrain]
One light, many faces
One fire in a thousand places
You and I, and all these traces
Are one light, one light, many faces

[Bridge]
If you look behind the eyes
Past the mask and past the lies
There’s a simple glow we share
Just this living, being here

Call it soul or call it breath
Something that is never death
Deeper than our separate places
Just one light in many faces

[Final Refrain]
One light, many faces
One fire in a thousand places
You and I, and all these traces
Are one light, one light, many faces

One light, many faces
All our tender, human graces
Held in love, in hidden spaces
By one light, one light, many faces

[Verse 1]
I’ve tried to push the mountains round
To make the world fit what I’ve found
I’ve tried to bend the river’s line
Afraid to trust a greater mind

But every time I fight the flow
The stones feel sharper down below
And something deep inside my chest
Keeps softly saying, “let me rest”

[Refrain]
There is a river that says yes
Under the noise and the duress
When I stop holding, stop saying no
I feel that quiet current grow

There is a river that says yes
Guiding my feet to what is best
I don’t have to know what’s next
Just float a little in its gentle yes

[Verse 2]
I’ve worn the shoes that weren’t my size
Just to satisfy worried eyes
I’ve walked on roads that weren’t my own
Afraid to stand, afraid alone

But when I breathe and close my eyes
And drop the need to justify
I feel a pull that’s kind and clear
Like water whispering in my ear

[Refrain]
There is a river that says yes
Under the noise and the duress
When I stop holding, stop saying no
I feel that quiet current grow

There is a river that says yes
Guiding my feet to what is best
I don’t have to know what’s next
Just float a little in its gentle yes

[Bridge]
Maybe dharma is just this
Following what brings quiet bliss
Not the thrill that burns too fast
But the peace that seems to last

When I step where my heart leans
Life moves softer in between
Every cell in me can rest
When I lean into that simple yes

[Final Refrain]
There is a river that says yes
Under the noise and the duress
When I stop holding, stop saying no
I feel that quiet current grow

There is a river that says yes
Guiding my feet to what is best
I don’t have to know what’s next
I only have to trust that gentle yes

[Verse 1]
It starts so small I barely see
A passing thought, a quiet need
A single step, a word I say
A tiny bending of the day

I think it’s nothing, just a speck
A habit I don’t even check
But little rivers carve the stone
And soon they shape a world I own

[Refrain]
Seeds become forests, slowly, slowly
Whispers become the voice that holds me
Every choice, a branch that forms
Every thought, a changing storm

Seeds become forests, gently, gently
Rooting deep inside my memory
What I water with my time
Becomes the landscape of my mind

[Verse 2]
I plant with every “yes” and “no”
With what I cling to, what I let go
The way I speak when no one sees
The way I answer my own needs

A thousand days of small repeats
Will grow the soil beneath my feet
And one day I will look around
And see my choices in the ground

[Refrain]
Seeds become forests, slowly, slowly
Whispers become the voice that holds me
Every choice, a branch that forms
Every thought, a changing storm

Seeds become forests, gently, gently
Rooting deep inside my memory
What I water with my time
Becomes the landscape of my mind

[Bridge]
If I want a kinder sky
I can change what seeds I hide
I can plant a softer word
I can choose a gentler world

I can feed the roots of grace
Let forgiveness take up space
Little acts that seem so small
Growing into shade for all

[Final Refrain]
Seeds become forests, slowly, slowly
Whispers become the voice that holds me
Every choice, a branch that forms
Every thought, a changing storm

Seeds become forests, gently, gently
Rooting deep inside my memory
What I water with my time
Becomes the landscape of my mind

[Verse 1]
A thought appears and fills the room
A sudden fear, a quiet gloom
It says “this is the way it is”
As if the whole world shrinks to this

But if I breathe and don’t engage
Just watch it walking on the stage
I start to feel what I forgot
There is a space around the thought

[Refrain]
There is a space around the thought
A gentle field where it is caught
It comes, it stays, it fades away
But something wider always stays

There is a space around the thought
Where I am held and I am not
The storm inside cannot distraught
The open space around the thought

[Verse 2]
A memory knocks with heavy hands
Of what I did, of who I am
It plays its scenes in black and white
And tries to turn them into “right”

But if I sit and let it play
Like clouds along a quiet day
I see it’s only one small plot
Inside the space around the thought

[Refrain]
There is a space around the thought
A gentle field where it is caught
It comes, it stays, it fades away
But something wider always stays

There is a space around the thought
Where I am held and I am not
The storm inside cannot distraught
The open space around the thought

[Bridge]
You are not every word you hear
Not every echo born of fear
You are the room in which they sound
The silent ground, the background ground

Let them whisper, let them shout
You don’t have to throw them out
Just let them float and let them drop
In the wide sky that does not stop

[Final Refrain]
There is a space around the thought
A gentle field where it is caught
It comes, it stays, it fades away
But something wider always stays

There is a space around the thought
Where love is larger than the plot
When I remember what I’m not
I rest as space around the thought

[Verse 1]
I’ve watched the seasons change their clothes
Green into gold, then into snow
I’ve watched the faces come and go
Some for a moment, some for whole roads

I’ve watched the houses rise and fall
Names on the door, then just bare walls
I’ve watched my own reflections fade
From who I was to who I’ve made

[Refrain]
But nothing is truly lost
It only changes form and cost
The song may end, the notes may fall
But something deeper holds it all

Nothing is truly gone
It lives in what it’s touched and drawn
Under the endings we exhaust
There is a heart that can’t be lost

[Verse 2]
I’ve held the hands that let mine go
Goodbyes I didn’t want to know
I’ve walked away from versions of me
I thought were all I’d ever be

Yet in the quiet after tears
When all the noise begins to clear
There’s still a simple, steady “here”
That doesn’t vanish year by year

[Refrain]
Because nothing is truly lost
It only changes form and cost
The song may end, the notes may fall
But something deeper holds it all

[Verse 1]
I see you standing in the rain
Carrying your hidden pain
Different story, different face
But a familiar empty space

I don’t know the roads you’ve walked
The words you swallowed, tears you locked
But something in your eyes reminds
Me of the same light I call mine

[Refrain]
So I choose the kindest choice
The softer word, the gentler voice
If we are made of the same flame
How could I add more hurt or blame?

I choose the kindest choice I can
Not as a rule, but as who I am
If we are one beneath the skin
Then hurting you would bruise my own being

[Verse 2]
I’ve been the one who got it wrong
Who spoke too sharp, who took too long
I’ve been the one who couldn’t speak
Who needed grace but felt too weak

So when I see that look in you
The “please don’t break me” shining through
I feel a quiet inner nudge
To be the one who doesn’t judge

[Refrain]
So I choose the kindest choice
The softer word, the gentler voice
If we are made of the same flame
How could I add more hurt or blame?

I choose the kindest choice I can
Not as a rule, but as who I am
If we are one beneath the skin
Then hurting you would bruise my own being

[Bridge]
Maybe love is not a grand
Heroic act or perfect plan
Maybe it’s in the simple things
The way we talk, the way it stings

To pause before we close a door
To listen five short minutes more
To let another’s trembling heart
Feel just a little less apart

[Final Refrain]
So I choose the kindest choice
The softer word, the gentler voice
If we are made of the same flame
How could I add more hurt or blame?

I choose the kindest choice I can
Not as a rule, but as who I am
If we are one beneath the skin
Then loving you is loving my own being

[Verse 1]
I’ve spent my days in “back when” rooms
Replaying scenes, rewinding wounds
I’ve spent my nights in “someday” skies
Building a life behind my eyes

The past is fixed, the future thin
A moving picture I live in
But when I stop and just feel here
The only time that’s real is near

[Refrain]
This very moment, only this
The breath I take, the air I kiss
Not yesterday, not what might come
Just this soft beating of the drum

This very moment, only now
The way my feet touch sacred ground
The door to peace is not “somewhen”
It’s this small now, again, again

[Verse 2]
My mind keeps drawing crooked lines
To “what I was” and “what I’ll find”
It says, “You’ll rest when you arrive”
Somewhere beyond this simple life

But every road I chase and trace
Still ends in this familiar place
The only place I ever stand
Is this one second in my hands

[Refrain]
This very moment, only this
The breath I take, the air I kiss
Not yesterday, not what might come
Just this soft beating of the drum

This very moment, only now
The way my feet touch sacred ground
The door to peace is not “somewhen”
It’s this small now, again, again

[Bridge]
If I let the story fade
Of who I’ll be, of what I’ve made
What remains is clear and bright
The simple feel of being alive

Every miracle I seek
Is hiding in this present beat
Every change I hope to start
Begins in this awake, soft heart

[Final Refrain]
This very moment, only this
The breath I take, the air I kiss
Not yesterday, not what might come
Just this soft beating of the drum

This very moment, only now
The way my feet touch sacred ground
I don’t have to wait till then
I can come home to now, again

[Verse 1]
Every note that fills the air
Rises up from somewhere rare
From a quiet, hidden ground
The sound behind the sound

Every word that leaves my lips
Floats on something still and thick
Like a river on the ground
Of the sound behind the sound

[Refrain]
Can you hear the sound behind the sound?
The quiet field where all notes are found
Before the song and after it’s done
A gentle hum that holds everyone

Can you hear the sound behind the sound?
The silent home where we are bound
Not a noise, but something round
The open space behind the sound

[Verse 2]
When the orchestra is done
And the crowd goes one by one
There is still a living hush
A tender, breathing sort of hush

When your thoughts at last grow thin
And you fall from “there” to “here again”
There is something safe and wide
Where all the echoes come to hide

[Refrain]
Can you hear the sound behind the sound?
The quiet field where all notes are found
Before the song and after it’s done
A gentle hum that holds everyone

Can you hear the sound behind the sound?
The silent home where we are bound
Not a noise, but something round
The open space behind the sound

[Bridge]
Some call it Om, a single tone
That sings the life in flesh and bone
Not just a word, but how it feels
When all the separate pieces heal

Listen closely, not for noise
But for the peace beneath the voice
In every rise and every fall
There is a stillness holding all

[Final Refrain – softer]
Can you hear the sound behind the sound?
The quiet field where all notes are found
Before the song and after it’s done
A gentle hum that holds everyone

Can you hear the sound behind the sound?
If you are still, you’re on its ground
No need to search, no need to be found
You are the space behind the sound