Songs for Ciara

Verse 1

Somebody stacked the chairs up crooked Nobody cared to get it right We were saving all the noise For the minute you walk in tonight

Pre-chorus

Hear that scrape of feet on the floor Watch the doors swing wide again Something good is walking in

Chorus

Ciara, look what we built for you Painted brick and borrowed light Every voice in here knows your name Ciara, this whole room loves you right

Verse 2

Somebody taped a sign to the doorway Somebody spelled your name in gold We have waited on this evening Longer than the story's told

Bridge

You could walk through any old room And it would light up just the same We are only lucky tonight That the room in question has your name

Chorus

Ciara, look what we built for you Painted brick and borrowed light Every voice in here knows your name Ciara, this whole room loves you right

Outro

Someday soon they'll stack the chairs again But tonight they stay right where they lean

Verse 1

Something showed up after dark Sat out there plain and small But you turned porches into sparks And made a doorstep feel like a hall

Chorus

Ciara, put the candles high Ciara, we all came for you Nobody lights a room like Ciara Nobody makes plain things feel new

Verse 2

You always show up carrying more Than anybody thinks to bring We hear your footsteps on the floor And suddenly want to sing

Pre-chorus

So pour it out and raise it high Tonight we're loud, we're unashamed Say the word before we cry

Chorus

Ciara, put the candles high Ciara, we all came for you Nobody lights a room like Ciara Nobody makes plain things feel new

Bridge

However far you've had to come However late, however slow You're the one we're waiting on You're the reason we're all aglow

Chorus

Ciara, put the candles high Ciara, we all came for you Nobody lights a room like Ciara Nobody makes plain things feel new

Outro

The step is empty, the door's flung wide You're home now, come inside

Verse 1

Someone lines the bottles up catching all the fading light empty now but still they shine just like you shine tonight

Pre-chorus

We could count a hundred crates every single one worth telling so before the candles come

Chorus

Ciara, raise your glass up high let the whole rooftop hear it you're the toast we keep coming back to Ciara, nobody comes near it

Verse 2

Every bottle here got emptied toasting something good and true half of them were probably for you the rest will be soon too

Pre-chorus

We could count a hundred crates every single one worth telling so before the candles come

Chorus

Ciara, raise your glass up high let the whole rooftop hear it you're the toast we keep coming back to Ciara, nobody comes near it

Bridge

Here's to another year of noise here's to the crowd that came the crates will empty one by one but nothing dims that flame

Chorus

Ciara, raise your glass up high let the whole rooftop hear it you're the toast we keep coming back to Ciara, nobody comes near it

Outro

The bottles stand there empty now but look how bright we shone

Verse 1

Standing here with baskets half filled Frost on the glass, and the room stilled You reach past me for the peas Warm hand moving through the freeze

Pre-chorus

Nothing about this is grand But I would follow where you stand Right here is where I understand

Chorus

Ciara, you make the cold feel kind Every plain place turns into fine Say your name just to hear it land Ciara, I'm glad to hold your hand

Verse 2

Trolley wheel sticking on the floor You laugh like we've done this before Some folks want fireworks and flame I just want to say your name

Bridge

Doesn't take much to know a good thing No candles, no ring, no rehearsed thing Just you beside me down the aisle Steady as anything, worth my while

Chorus

Ciara, you make the cold feel kind Every plain place turns into fine Say your name just to hear it land Ciara, I'm glad to hold your hand

Outro

Peas still frosting under the light You're the warm part of my night

Verse 1

You leave the crusts for the birds Say the soft part's mine to keep I watch you give it all away And I want no other kind of love

Pre-chorus

You don't make a show of caring You just stay when the day runs long And that's the thing that's pulling me in

Chorus

Ciara, you keep me sitting still Nowhere I would rather be than here The blanket's red, the light is low Ciara, you're the reason I don't leave

Verse 2

You laugh with crumbs still on your hand Don't care how it looks to anyone I've loved people who needed more polish You just needed me to stay

Pre-chorus

You don't make a show of caring You just stay when the day runs long And that's the thing that's pulling me in

Chorus

Ciara, you keep me sitting still Nowhere I would rather be than here The blanket's red, the light is low Ciara, you're the reason I don't leave

Bridge

Let the ants take what they want We've got nowhere else to be Every ordinary hour with you Feels like something I should keep

Chorus

Ciara, you keep me sitting still Nowhere I would rather be than here The blanket's red, the light is low Ciara, you're the reason I don't leave

Outro

Someone will fold the blanket up I'll still be holding on to you

Verse 1

The garden's gone quiet and grey Leaves stuck flat where they fell I didn't plan on loving this way But you make it easy to tell

Pre-chorus

Nothing here is asking to be seen No grand show, no bright design Just what stays after the storm has been

Chorus

Ciara, you're the one steady thing Through November and everything it brings Ciara, I still reach for your hand Whatever the season, however it's planned

Verse 2

Some things cling on past their time Like leaves that won't let go of stone You've stayed through the mud and the grime Never once left me on my own

Pre-chorus

Nothing here is asking to be seen No grand show, no bright design Just what stays after the storm has been

Chorus

Ciara, you're the one steady thing Through November and everything it brings Ciara, I still reach for your hand Whatever the season, however it's planned

Bridge

I'm not the type for flowers or fire Just this small and certain love Quiet as rain, plain as I am

Chorus

Ciara, you're the one steady thing Through November and everything it brings Ciara, I still reach for your hand Whatever the season, however it's planned

Outro

The leaves will lift when the sun comes round But I'm still yours, still standing your ground

Verse 1

A little beam sneaks under the duvet tonight finding you curled where the shadows are light dust turns to gold in that thin, quiet ray softly it settles the way good things stay

Pre-chorus

Close your eyes now, let the small light go dim nothing can reach you, nothing gets in hold onto warm as the hush starts to grow

Chorus

Ciara, the night has room just for you under the covers where warm gathers too sleep finds you gentle, sleep finds you near Ciara, there's nothing but quiet in here

Verse 2

Somewhere the moon leans its face to the glass watching the small beam of light as it passes it touches your cheek like it knows you by name tucks itself softly and stays just the same

Pre-chorus

Close your eyes now, let the small light go dim nothing can reach you, nothing gets in hold onto warm as the hush starts to grow

Chorus

Ciara, the night has room just for you under the covers where warm gathers too sleep finds you gentle, sleep finds you near Ciara, there's nothing but quiet in here

Bridge

Rest now, the dark is a blanket that's kind carrying you soft to the edge of your mind every small breath is a step down to sleep

Chorus

Ciara, the night has room just for you under the covers where warm gathers too sleep finds you gentle, sleep finds you near Ciara, there's nothing but quiet in here

Outro

That small beam of light will still be there when you wake and warm will be waiting, however long that takes

Verse 1

Watch the little bubbles rest so quiet on the water one by one they settle down the way that you should follow softly, softly, nothing here will ever make a sound you're the warmest thing this whole small room has ever held

Pre-chorus

Now the water's stilling, so let your eyes grow heavy already you are halfway into dreaming, safe and ready hold on to nothing, just let yourself sink slow

Chorus

Ciara, close your eyes now, let the warm night hold you every bit of you is loved, there's nothing left to prove to you you were made to be this soft, this cared for, this held near sleep now, Ciara, and know I'm always here

Verse 2

Feel how warm the water is around you, holding steady already all the noise and light have quietly gone unready nothing needs your worry now, not one single thing you can let the whole wide day go drifting out to sea

Pre-chorus

Now the water's stilling, so let your eyes grow heavy already you are halfway into dreaming, safe and ready hold on to nothing, just let yourself sink slow

Chorus

Ciara, close your eyes now, let the warm night hold you every bit of you is loved, there's nothing left to prove to you you were made to be this soft, this cared for, this held near sleep now, Ciara, and know I'm always here

Bridge

Sink a little deeper, let your breathing slow and settle you don't have to hold on to a single thing tonight whatever small thing troubled you has already popped and vanished

Chorus

Ciara, close your eyes now, let the warm night hold you every bit of you is loved, there's nothing left to prove to you you were made to be this soft, this cared for, this held near sleep now, Ciara, and know I'm always here

Outro

Somewhere the last small bubble breaks and quietly disappears you are already sleeping, safe and warm, and loved right here

Verse 1

Far across the water a slow light turns and glows Sweeping out so gently, then fading soft and low You are wrapped up warmer than any night that blows Safe here in the hush where the quiet rivers flow

Pre-chorus

That far beam keeps turning, so patient and so slow Watching over sailors who wander far from home But nothing out there loves you the way I love you so

Chorus

Ciara, hush now, the whole wide world can wait Sleep is a soft harbour and you're already safe Nothing can reach you, not tonight, not ever late Ciara, you are held here, no need to be afraid

Verse 2

The lighthouse never wavers though the waves rise and fall Somewhere past the window it is watching over all But you don't need a beacon to feel steady and small You have arms around you, softer than any wall

Chorus

Ciara, hush now, the whole wide world can wait Sleep is a soft harbour and you're already safe Nothing can reach you, not tonight, not ever late Ciara, you are held here, no need to be afraid

Bridge

Let the dark be gentle, let your breathing slow Every turning moment brings you closer to the glow Sleep and I will keep it, that quiet steady light

Chorus

Ciara, hush now, the whole wide world can wait Sleep is a soft harbour and you're already safe Nothing can reach you, not tonight, not ever late Ciara, you are held here, no need to be afraid

Outro

Somewhere far off still that slow light keeps its turning But closer than that, love, my heart keeps watch till morning