[Intro – slow guitar breaths, faint wood creaks] Mmm… if I could rewind time… even once… [Verse 1] There was a time your hand was small enough to fit in mine, When you’d wobble down the hall and look over your shoulder just to make sure I was still following. I remember how you’d laugh at shadows on the wall and ask me questions that were too big for your tiny voice— questions I didn’t always answer right, questions I wish I’d slowed down enough to hear. I thought being a father meant working harder, staying busy, building a life that would keep you safe. But somewhere in all the deadlines and tired nights, I missed the way you kept growing even when I wasn’t watching. [Pre-Chorus] Now the house is quieter than it should be, and every picture frame stares back at me like a moment I forgot to hold onto. Every memory feels like a gentle ache, a reminder of the days I only half-lived. [Chorus] I hope you know I loved you, even when I didn’t show. I hope you know I held you, even when I let you go. If I ever seemed far away, I was learning how to stay— and I know I learned too late… But I’m here now, if you’ll let me find my place. [Verse 2] I still hear your little footsteps in my dreams— you running down the hallway, calling my name like I was the whole world. I didn’t realize then that one day I’d wake up wishing for those sounds again. I carried expectations heavier than truth, and I didn’t always understand the softness you needed. But I remember your eyes— bright as morning light— trying to read me, trying to understand why I wasn’t always gentle with my words. It wasn’t you. It was the boy inside me still trying to convince himself he deserved to be loved right. [Bridge] If your heart is tired, if your steps feel slow, I’m here—no pride, no walls, no distance. Come back home. Let me fix what I broke one honest word at a time. [Chorus – deeper, stripped back] I hope you know I loved you, even when I couldn’t show. I hope you know I held you, even when I let you go. If I failed you yesterday, I’m trying harder today… I’m right here now— in every way I couldn’t be before. [Outro – soft breath, finger-slide on guitar] If you’ll reach out your hand… I won’t let go again.

Hands I Let Go (Father)