While I'm Looking After Yours

Verse 1

The alarm rings out before the dawn,

Another day begins,

Pulling on my uniform,

Wearing tired skin.

I hold a hand through fear and pain,

Through laughter, tears and loss,

Helping someone else's world

Carry its heavy cross.

While birthdays pass and dinners cool,

And moments slip away,

I'm making sure somebody's mum

Gets safely through the day.

Pre-Chorus

And nobody sees the miles we walk,

The pieces that we give,

The quiet parts of our own lives

We forget to live.

Chorus

'Cause while I'm looking after yours,

I'm missing time with mine,

Trading evenings, weekends, holidays,

One shift at a time.

Putting other people's needs

Ahead of all my own,

Making sure they're safe and loved

Before I head back home.

And though my heart grows weary,

I'd still walk through every door,

Giving all I have to give

While I'm looking after yours.

Verse 2

I know the names of favourite songs,

How they take their tea,

The stories that they tell again

Like they're brand new to me.

I celebrate their victories,

Sit with them through pain,

Then drive back home exhausted

To do it all again.

My own cup's running empty,

But I pour from it somehow,

Because they need somebody there,

And they need somebody now.

Pre-Chorus

We carry more than medicines,

More than plans and charts,

We're carrying the fragile pieces

Of a hundred different hearts.

Chorus

'Cause while I'm looking after yours,

I'm missing time with mine,

Trading evenings, weekends, holidays,

One shift at a time.

Putting other people's needs

Ahead of all my own,

Making sure they're safe and loved

Before I head back home.

And though my heart grows weary,

I'd still walk through every door,

Giving all I have to give

While I'm looking after yours.

Bridge

One day I'll learn to slow down,

To rest these tired hands,

To believe that I deserve the care

I've given where I can.

Because even the strongest shoulders

Need somewhere safe to lean,

And even those who heal the hurt

Need help to mend their seams.

Final Chorus

But while I'm looking after yours,

I'll keep showing up each day,

Holding hope when others can't,

Helping light the way.

Though the world may never notice

Every sacrifice and chore,

There's a thousand lives made better

Because I'm looking after yours.

And when I finally lay my head

Down after it all,

I'll know the love I gave away

Was never wasted at all.

While I'm looking after yours...

While I'm looking after yours...

I'm giving pieces of my heart

While I'm looking after yours.