MmHold me nowMm, don't turn me out

I came back through the winter, with my cold hands at your doorBoots full of water, couldn't run anymoreI had ash on my shoulders from the bridges that I burnedBut I still kept your whisper in the paces that I turned

You said, "Child, when the night gets cruelDon't you dare forget you're more than all you've used"So I carried that sentence like a coal in the darkHid it under all the shame that wrapped around my heart

Oh, if I fall againWill you lift my head?If I go numbWill you call me back from the dead?

Mama, don't close your eyes, I'm still here, I'm still aliveI came through the snow with a shattered soulBut I'm holding on to every word you toldMama, don't turn away, I found my knees, I learned to prayWith these cold, cold hands and this broken coreI'm just asking, can I come back home once more?

You remember the kitchen, with the candle on the plateYou'd sing over dishes when it all felt lateLet the storm keep shouting, let the fear run wildWe were made for the fire, we were made, my child

I took that little chorus to the cities and the barsTo the empty alleys and the backseat carsBut your hymn kept knocking when the windows frozeI said, "Stand up, girl, you're not what they chose"

Oh, if I break againWill you hold my name?If I lose my wayWill you light that flame?

I laid my fear on the chapel floorWhispered every secret that I carried beforeSaid if there's a god in this frozen townLet me feel one hand when I'm falling downAnd I swear I heard you in the echo of the choirYour old voice rising like a small clean fireSinging hallelujah, I still choose youEven with the cracks I see right through

Mama don't close your eyes (don't close your eyes), I'm still aliveFrom the far black wind to your wooden floorI was lost so long, but I'm at your doorMama, don't turn away, if you can't forgive, just let me stayWith these cold, cold hands and this trembling heartLet me start again where you always start

Hm, hold me nowMm, don't turn me out

Mama, Don't Close Your Eyes