Carried All This Way

[Verse 1]
Grew up where the shouting
Shook the picture frames
Dinner table silence
Each of us to blame
I learned how to listen
For footsteps in the hall
But in the quiet
Heard You
Soft above it all
[Chorus]
You carried all this way
When I was too tired to stand
Through the doors of every day
Past the things I couldn’t understand
From a scared kid in that small house
To a soldier in the rain
You have lifted me
And somehow
You keep carrying my pain
[Verse 2]
Thirty years of dust storms
Boot prints in my bones
Names stitched on a patch
Brothers never coming home
I held back the shaking
Folded flags and folded hands
But every time I broke down
You helped me up again
[Chorus]
You carried all this way
When I was too tired to stand
Through the doors of every day
Past the things I couldn’t understand
From a young man in those worn boots
To this scarred and greying face
You have lifted me
And somehow
You keep carrying my pain
[Bridge]
I should’ve been buried
By the weight of all I’ve seen (oh Lord)
But mercy found a space for me
Inside the in-between
When the doctors said “it’s nothing”
But I knew something was wrong
You were sitting on the bedside
Whispering
“Hold on”
[Chorus]
You carried all this way
When I was too tired to stand
Through the doors of every day
Past the things I couldn’t understand
From that harsh and hurting childhood
To this ordinary day
You have lifted me
And somehow
You keep carrying my pain
[Outro]
Every breath I’m breathing
Is another chance to say
I’m only standing
Only standing
‘Cause You carried all this way

Warm, mid-tempo country-gospel ballad with male vocals, gently picked acoustic guitar and steady kick on the verses; organ swells and harmony stack lift the chorus. Subtle pedal steel and soft piano fills add ache and gratitude. Final chorus opens wider with a small choir feel, toms and cymbal bloom, then a tender acoustic outro., harsh