[Intro]
Soft bells in the rafters
White paint on the walls
Hands folded in the morning
Before the world would call
[Verse 1]
I ran through the yard in church shoes
Knees all torn up blue
Dirt on my Sunday collar
Still I smiled right through
Mom said, "Keep your head high"
Dad said, "Walk it straight"
I believed in tiny miracles
In a paper plate
[Pre-Chorus]
Then the halls got longer
The sky got hard to read
Lost my baby teeth in silence
Found some things I didn't need
Oh, I felt that old bell ring
In my chest, in my bones
From the playground to the pavement
I was never really alone
[Chorus]
From clean hands to scars
I keep walking on
From the choir loft high
To the pounding drum
(keep walking on)
From little kid prayers
To a grown man's run
I was made in the light
But I grew in the mud
[Verse 2]
First job, cheap shoes
Secondhand dream
Learning how to fake a grin
When the crowd got mean
Late nights, hard truths
Bills like stones
Mama kept a lamp on
When I came back home
Now I see that boy in mirrors
In the cracks and the chrome
Still chasing that first mercy
Still trying to make it home
[Pre-Chorus]
Then the halls got longer
The sky got hard to read
Lost my baby teeth in silence
Found some things I didn't need
Oh, I felt that old bell ring
In my chest, in my bones
From the playground to the pavement
I was never really alone
[Chorus]
From clean hands to scars
I keep walking on
From the choir loft high
To the pounding drum
(keep walking on)
From little kid prayers
To a grown man's run
I was made in the light
But I grew in the mud
[Bridge]
[Drop to bells and toms]
If you see that boy
Tell him don't be scared
The world will bite your knuckles
Still it taught you how to care
And if the night gets heavy
If the road goes cold
There's a hymn under the damage
There's a fire in your soul
[Final Chorus]
From clean hands to scars
I keep walking on
From the choir loft high
To the pounding drum
(keep walking on)
From little kid prayers
To a grown man's run
I was made in the light
But I grew in the mud
[Outro]
Soft bells in the rafters
Now they sound like me
One foot in the chapel
One foot in the street