The Opening Act

Verse 1

The candles dim upon the gilded stage

A hush before the curtain's first ascent

I stand where footlights tremble and engage

My voice a gift the silent halls present

I practiced by the window every dawn

While sparrows watched the music take its flight

My mother's locket warmed against my palm

She swore I'd find the courage by the light

Pre-Chorus

And though they clap before I sing a note

The weight of waiting settles on my chest

One breath

One prayer

One leap into the rest

Chorus

I am the opening act

The first to burn before the dawn

I am the opening act

A solo borne from wings of swan

Let the house fall still

Let the strings uncurl

I am the opening act

The first voice in the world

Verse 2

The maestro lifts his baton toward the air

The viola da gamba hums below

My hands are glass my trembling is a prayer

The promised notes I've carried now must flow

I see the faces blurred in velvet rows

A gentleman with tears he will not shed

The chandeliers like frozen golden snows

Hold every dream above each waiting head

Pre-Chorus

And though the music swells to meet my own

The silence before thunder is the test

One note

One truth

One voice above the rest

Chorus

I am the opening act

The first to burn before the dawn

I am the opening act

A solo borne from wings of swan

Let the house fall still

Let the strings uncurl

I am the opening act

The first voice in the world

Bridge

When the final bow is taken

And the amber lamps grow low

They will not recall my trembling

Only how the petals grow

From a seed of pale uncertainty

To a bloom they can't ignore

I will be the one who opened

Every curtain every door

Chorus

I am the opening act

The first to burn before the dawn

I am the opening act

A solo borne from wings of swan

Let the house fall still

Let the strings uncurl

I am the opening act

The first voice in the world

Outro

The first voice

The first voice

In the world