[Verse 1] Your toothbrush in my glass Two plates in the drying rack Your coat on my one chair It’s small things But they stare back You’re folding your old life Into my half-empty drawers I’m scared of what this means You just kick off your shoes on the floor (so sure) [Pre-Chorus] You trace my faded scars with your thumb Ask the names of every one Who walked away when it got rough You say “I stay when it gets tough” (I stay) [Chorus] We’re doing all the hard things Soft hands Meeting your mother Changing my plans Talking about money About the meds I take Sitting in the silence when we’re both afraid Yeah We’re doing all the hard things First Opening the wounds Watching them hurt But your head on my chest makes the dark make sense If this is what love is I don’t want less [Verse 2] You cry in my parked car In that grocery lot at ten Because I said I need An hour alone now and then You said “That used to mean They were halfway out the door” I said “Come closer Please Want you to want me and want more” [Pre-Chorus] You list the things you think might break us All the ways you might erase us I just hold your shaking wrist Say “You’re allowed to be like this” [Chorus] We’re doing all the hard things Slow Telling each other what we don’t know Calling your father Saying my real name Owning the mess Not hiding the shame Yeah We’re doing all the hard things Bare I lose my temper You stay there And your hand on my back pulls me through my past If this is what love is I want it to last [Bridge] [Bagpipes rising under held piano chords] You meet my oldest friend who saw me break in two You watch the way I stiffen up You never look away We stand outside the bar The cold cuts straight us through You lace your fingers into mine and suddenly I stay You don’t promise perfect days You just say “I’ll call you back” When I spiral When I blackout You just sit through all the black And I don’t promise you forever Just another honest night But each hard word that we survive Feels like tiny Steady light (tiny light) [Chorus] We’re doing all the hard things Now Saying “I’m sorry” and learning how To fight for the truth Not to win the fight To climb through the dark toward any kind of light Yeah We’re doing all the hard things Pressed Forehead to forehead Chest to chest And your breath in my ear cuts the noise in half If this is what love is I’m good with that [Outro] [Bagpipes and cello swell Then fall away to solo piano and voice] Leave your toothbrush in my glass Two plates in the drying rack If love starts here In all this mess With all these hard things I’ll take this I’ll take this

pop, Dark art-pop ballad with male vocals; close-mic whispery verses over sparse, felted piano and low cello swells that bloom into a widescreen chorus. Slow build that doubles the rhythmic pulse in the hook; tom-driven percussion and warm sub-bass enter gradually. Bagpipes arrive as a haunting countermelody in the second chorus and a soaring, keening lead in the bridge, then blend back into piano and strings for an intimate, tapering outro. Subtle stacked harmonies on the title line, with breaths and room tone left in the mix., cello, slow, low, male vocals, ballad, deep

Hard Things, Soft Hands