My City, Let Me Rise

[Verse 1] You know the corner where the bakery opens before dawn Where the bus sighs at the curb and the night shift moves on I learned your names from the signs on the laundromat door And the old man sweeping rain from the pharmacy floor I used to think that leaving meant i finally got free But every road i took kept drawing me back to your streets Now i’m carrying my whole life in a secondhand bag And your cracked sidewalks feel like a welcome i have [Pre-Chorus] You gave me room to run You gave me somewhere to land When every plan came undone You still knew who i am [Chorus] Oh, my city, let me rise With your rough edges in my blood I was lost beneath your skies Now i’m learning how to love If the walls shake, let them shake I won’t trade this heart away You gave me a place to begin And the freedom to leave—or stay [Verse 2] You watched us paint the boarded windows blue Then watched the landlord paint them over by june We made a promise on the steps by the station To keep a little tenderness in a town of impatience I’ve seen your bright mornings come bruised and late Seen your night buses carry strangers home safe You never asked me to be anybody but real So i’m giving back the only thing i know how to feel [Pre-Chorus] You gave me room to run You gave me somewhere to land When every plan came undone You still knew who i am [Chorus] Oh, my city, let me rise With your rough edges in my blood I was lost beneath your skies Now i’m learning how to love If the walls shake, let them shake I won’t trade this heart away You gave me a place to begin And the freedom to leave—or stay [Bridge] Someday i might cross that river Take the train past the county line But your name will ride beside me Like a hand at the small of my back [Final chorus] Oh, my city, let me rise With your rough edges in my blood I was lost beneath your skies Now i’m learning how to love If the walls shake, let them shake I won’t trade this heart away You gave me a place to begin And the freedom to leave—or stay [Outro] The first bus groans, the ovens wake I know the road, i know the way My city, i can go or stay