

Prompt / Lyrics
Feel: Sparse piano and acoustic guitar open the song. Strings enter at the bridge. A gospel choir breathes in underneath the final chorus — felt more than heard at first, then fully present. Vocal approach: Two voices. The sisters. They sing separately for most of the song — then together for the final chorus. Influences: The Civil Wars, Audrey Assad, traditional Filipino kundiman melancholy INTRO (piano, single notes) (hummed melody) Lyrics: VERSE 1 (Sister 1 — solo, quiet) We crossed the ocean with our suitcases and hope Mama’s name like a lantern in the dark We were daughters looking for a place to finally belong But the door was open and the house was cold She had built another life before we could arrive Set another table, shared another name And we learned to love her from a careful distance Like you love a candle through a windowpane PRE-CHORUS Lord, I don’t know how to hold What I never had the chance to know How do you grieve a love that never came? How do you let go and still remain? CHORUS (both sisters, first time together) She is still our mother Even now, even here In this room where the machines Are breathing what she cannot breathe We are still her daughters Even with our wounds and years God, let mercy meet us In the place we’re standing now Still water, still water Carry us somehow VERSE 2 (Sister 2 — solo) I used to write the letters that I never sent Full of questions, full of things I couldn’t say Did you ever wonder if we needed you to stay? Did you know we watched the door for you each day? Now the tables have been turned so quietly And it’s us who hold the choice you never gave I forgive you not because it doesn’t cost me But because I won’t let bitterness be my grave PRE-CHORUS (both sisters) Lord, we don’t know how to hold What we never had the chance to know How do you grieve a love that never came? How do you let go and still remain? CHORUS She is still our mother Even now, even here In this room where the machines Are breathing what she cannot breathe We are still her daughters Even with our wounds and years God, let mercy meet us In the place we’re standing now Still water, still water Carry us somehow BRIDGE (strings rise, one voice, then both — the most honest moment) We are saints in training Waiting to heal We are two women Learning how to kneel At the altar of something We don’t understand Placing what we’re holding Into better hands She was broken, we were broken And only grace can bridge that span So we release her, God, we release her Back into Your hands (pause — silence — one breath) FINAL CHORUS (full voices, choir underneath, strings swelling — E major now) She was still our mother Even then, even there Even when the love she gave us Was not more than she could bear We are still her daughters We were more than what she knew And the God who sees the sparrow Sees this room and sees us too Still water, still water You have always led us here Still water, still water Even now — especially here
Tags
Cinematic Filipino-American folk / gospel soul 58 BPM Key: E minor → resolves to E major in the final chorus
5:29
No
3/13/2026