Lyrics
[Verse 1] There's a little boy asleep in an old man's eyes
Still wondering where the summers went
There's a mother washing dishes at midnight
Crying over money she can't spend
There's a photograph beside a hospital bed
A birthday cake with one chair gone
There's a man who swears that he's doing fine
Then sits in his truck till the tears come on
[Pre-Chorus] We think we've got forever to forgive
Forever to apologize forever left to live
But time don't knock before it leaves
And some goodbyes arrive before we're ready
[Chorus] We're only human trying to be enough
Building little castles out of broken stuff
We laugh at the table we cry in the car
We ask for directions when we've traveled too far
We're rich in memories poor in time
We carry our regrets like a second spine
And if there's one truth this whole world has shown
Nobody wants to feel they're dying alone
[Verse 2] We bury our fathers then become their age
We hear their words come out of our mouths
We spend our lives trying to be somebody
Then wonder what the living was about
We hurt the ones who never deserved it
We lose our pride before we learn we're wrong
And sometimes the people who need us the most
Are the ones we've been ignoring all along
[Pre-Chorus] We think we've got forever to forgive
Forever to apologize forever left to live
But time don't knock before it leaves
And some goodbyes arrive before we're ready
[Chorus] We're only human trying to be enough
Building little castles out of broken stuff
We laugh at the table we cry in the car
We ask for directions when we've traveled too far
We're rich in memories poor in time
We carry our regrets like a second spine
And if there's one truth this whole world has shown
Nobody wants to feel they're dying alone
[Bridge] What if the last time you saw your mother
Was the last time and you didn't know
What if the last time your child said Daddy
Was the last time they would need you so
What if the friend you thought would be there
Was waiting for you to call them too
What if half the people you could have helped
Were standing right in front of you
[Breakdown] And what if one day you looked in the mirror
And saw the years written over your face
And all you could think was I was so busy surviving
I forgot to live while I was here in this place
[Chorus] We're only human trying to be enough
Building little castles out of broken stuff
We laugh at the table we cry in the car
We ask for directions when we've traveled too far
We're rich in memories poor in time
We carry our regrets like a second spine
And if there's one truth this whole world has shown
Nobody wants to feel they're dying alone
[Chorus] We're only human
We're only human
Some are broken some are barely holding on
Some have wandered so long they forgot where they're from
Some are sitting by a window waiting on a ring
Some are learning that the smallest things
Were always everything
You are not alone
You are not alone
[Outro] Call your father if he's still alive
Go sit beside your mother for a while
Tell the truth before the moment passes
Give a stranger one unguarded smile
One day somebody will say your name
For the very last time in this world
Let the life behind that name be more
Than all the things you owned
Let somebody remember you were kind
When being kind was hard to
[Reprise — Solo piano, slow and tender] We don't get forever
We just get today
So if you're still breathing
You still have something
Beautiful left to give away
[Verse 3 — Organ swells in, drums enter soft with brushes] There's a daughter driving home from a funeral
Taking the long way past her old street
There's a son who finally read the letter
His father hid beneath the driver's seat
There's a widow learning how to pay the bills
There's a brother who won't answer anymore
There's a table set for seven
With only two chairs pulled up to the board
[Verse 4 — Strings rise, choir hums underneath] We keep the voicemail just to hear the voice
We wear the watch that never kept good time
We say we'll visit when the season settles
Then the seasons pass us by
We teach our children how to tie their laces
Then we teach them how to leave and not look back
And the house keeps every scratch upon the doorway
Like a map of everything we had
[Pre-Chorus — Building, full band behind him] We think we've got tomorrow to make it right
Tomorrow to pick the phone up, tomorrow to hold them tight
But the clock don't ask permission when it moves
And the room goes quiet long before it's empty
[Chorus — Full soul arrangement, male lead with choir answering] We're only human, reaching for the light
Stumbling through the days and through the nights
We hold on to the ones who hold us up
And we pour the little we have in a cup
We're long on longing, short on years
We water our regrets with all our tears
And if there's one thing I have come to know
Nobody wants to feel they're dying alone
[Chorus] We're only human, reaching for the light
Stumbling through the days and through the nights
We hold on to the ones who hold us up
And we pour the little we have in a cup
We're long on longing, short on years
We water our regrets with all our tears
And if there's one thing I have come to know
Nobody wants to feel they're dying alone
[Bridge — Drums drop out, piano and one voice, choir breathes behind] (Oh oh oh)
(Oh oh oh)
What if the call you keep meaning to make
Is the one that would have saved somebody's night
What if the door you keep walking past
Was the only place you'd ever feel alright
What if the hands you were too proud to hold
Were the ones that would have carried you through
What if the love you were too scared to say
Was the love that was waiting there for you
[Guitar solo — Slow, crying bends over gospel organ] [Breakdown — Choir a cappella, building] We are here
(We are here)
We are here
(We are here)
With our hands still full of giving
With our hearts still made for living
[Final Chorus — Full gospel choir, huge crescendo, drums driving] We're only human!
We're only human!
Some are laughing through the sorrow, some are singing through the pain
Some are planting little gardens in the middle of the rain
Some are holding on to strangers like they're family they lost
Some are learning that the loving
Was worth every single cost
You are not alone!
You are not alone!
Go and call the one who's waiting
Go and say the thing you mean
Go and hold the hand that's shaking
Go and let your heart be seen
We are here!
We are here!
With our questions and our scars
With the way we broke and mended
With the love that's always ours!
[Outro — Choir fades to hum, piano alone, voice soft] One day the house will hold a different name
The porch light off, the garden overgrown
But somewhere in the walls a song remains
Of all the love we never left alone
Let somebody remember you were kind
When kindness cost you more than you could spare
Let somebody say the world was better
Because you chose to care
We don't get forever
We just get today
So if you're still breathing
You still have something
Beautiful left to give away
(We were here)
(We were here)
(We were here) [End — Piano holds one chord]