Songs for Gillian

Verse 1

Boots all caked and left by the door Wheelbarrow rusted, still gets the job done You dig right in, you don't ask what for Under cabbage leaves you're having your fun

Pre-chorus

Look at you, covered in garden and grin Nobody else could wear it so well Tonight the whole room is letting you in

Chorus

Gillian, light up this table tonight One of a million, none quite the same Gillian, you make the whole thing feel right Raise up a glass and shout out your name

Verse 2

You'll trade your best shoes for the mud any day Chase down the sunshine after the rain Whatever gets planted, you find a way Turning hard work into joy again

Pre-chorus

Look at you, covered in garden and grin Nobody else could wear it so well Tonight the whole room is letting you in

Chorus

Gillian, light up this table tonight One of a million, none quite the same Gillian, you make the whole thing feel right Raise up a glass and shout out your name

Bridge

Here's to the mess and the mileage you've made Here's to the seasons that still call your name Nothing about you has ever just stayed Growing us all as you go, just the same

Chorus

Gillian, light up this table tonight One of a million, none quite the same Gillian, you make the whole thing feel right Raise up a glass and shout out your name

Outro

Boots by the door when the party is done Waiting for you and the next round of fun

Verse 1

Someone dragged the trestles out stacked them up against the wall folded chairs in metal rows but you're the best part of it all

Pre-chorus

We could meet in any hall borrow every plastic seat none of it would matter

Chorus

Gillian, light of every room we're in one in a million, maybe two we'd unstack a thousand chairs just to sit and toast to you

Verse 2

Trolleys full of stacking chairs locked up tight till someone comes but you unlock a warmth in us that never sits on ceremony or drums

Chorus

Gillian, light of every room we're in one in a million, maybe two we'd unstack a thousand chairs just to sit and toast to you

Bridge

Doesn't matter where we gather hall or kitchen, near or far you're the reason we show up at all you're the reason that we are

Chorus

Gillian, light of every room we're in one in a million, maybe two we'd unstack a thousand chairs just to sit and toast to you

Outro

Fold the tables, stack the chairs we'll still be here loving you

Verse 1

Streamers tangled up in the rafters Lemonade stacked up crate on crate Somebody hung the lights up early Just to see you walk through that gate

Pre-chorus

Listen how the whole room's talking Feel that hum before it lands Every voice is warming up now

Chorus

Gillian, light up this room Feels like a wish worth a million You make the whole crowd glow Gillian, we're glad you came

Verse 2

Somebody's climbed up for the ribbon Somebody's popped the bottles loose Nobody planned a single second Every bit of this was for you

Chorus

Gillian, light up this room Feels like a wish worth a million You make the whole crowd glow Gillian, we're glad you came

Bridge

Blow it out, make it count However far this year takes you We'll be right here cheering loud However far this year takes you

Chorus

Gillian, light up this room Feels like a wish worth a million You make the whole crowd glow Gillian, we're glad you came

Outro

Streamers falling from the rafters Land right here, we're glad you came

Verse 1

Rain comes down and the sign starts to drip Nobody moves, we just stand here instead One pocket holds both our hands on this trip Your thumb finds mine and the worry goes dead

Pre-chorus

I've waited on colder platforms than this Never once knowing what I was owed Then you showed up and turned it to bliss

Chorus

Gillian, you're worth a million small waits Nothing about you has ever felt small You steady me down through the changeable states Gillian, I'd choose you over them all

Verse 2

Some nights we don't say a single true word Just sit with our hands in that one warm space Whatever I'm feeling, you've already heard You read it off silence, you read it off place

Chorus

Gillian, you're worth a million small waits Nothing about you has ever felt small You steady me down through the changeable states Gillian, I'd choose you over them all

Bridge

Timetables lie, they never quite hold Trains come in late, plans fall through and unwind But your hand in mine never once turns cold That's the one schedule I don't mind

Chorus

Gillian, you're worth a million small waits Nothing about you has ever felt small You steady me down through the changeable states Gillian, I'd choose you over them all

Outro

Let the sign keep dripping, let the trains run slow Long as our thumbs touch, I've got somewhere to go

Verse 1

A spoon lies wet against the mug forgotten there like a small shrug but I keep noticing you left it the print of you I won't forget it

Pre-chorus

I don't need anything grand or loud just this proof that you're around small as a spoon, it pulls me in

Chorus

Gillian, you steady my whole day in ordinary ways you stay a million reasons, only one name Gillian, my love stays the same

Verse 2

The kitchen light is going grey but something of you won't fade away you touch a thing and it means more that's what I'm always waiting for

Pre-chorus

I don't need anything grand or loud just this proof that you're around small as a spoon, it pulls me in

Chorus

Gillian, you steady my whole day in ordinary ways you stay a million reasons, only one name Gillian, my love stays the same

Bridge

You never asked to be adored but you're the thing I can't afford to lose, to overlook, to miss

Chorus

Gillian, you steady my whole day in ordinary ways you stay a million reasons, only one name Gillian, my love stays the same

Outro

I'll leave the spoon there by the sink and love you longer than I think

Verse 1

Just bread and a cold knife left out Nothing special, nothing planned But you saved the better half for me That's a thing I understand

Pre-chorus

You never make a show of it You just quietly stay And that's the loudest thing I know

Chorus

Gillian, you don't need a million Reasons to be loved this way One dry crust and a kitchen light Is where I'd choose to stay

Verse 2

You split the last of what we had Didn't think to make it fair You just knew that I was hungry too And that you'd always share

Pre-chorus

You never make a show of it You just quietly stay And that's the loudest thing I know

Chorus

Gillian, you don't need a million Reasons to be loved this way One dry crust and a kitchen light Is where I'd choose to stay

Bridge

I've seen the grand kind come and go Loud and bright and gone by morning You're the quiet kind that stays Small and true, and never warning

Chorus

Gillian, you don't need a million Reasons to be loved this way One dry crust and a kitchen light Is where I'd choose to stay

Outro

The knife still rests where you left it I'll take my half, and call it home

Verse 1

There's a stripe of gold beneath the spare room door tonight Falling soft across the rug like it was drawn for you Everything is quiet now and everything's alright You are held by everyone who loves what you do

Pre-chorus

Close your eyes and let the whole house settle down Let the hush come rolling in and wrap around your head There's a warmth that's only yours, so gentle and so round

Chorus

Gillian, the night has come to keep you safe and still Somewhere close a light is glowing just for you There isn't any corner that the dark could ever fill Gillian, you're loved a hundred million ways and through

Verse 2

The rug still glows in stripes of amber, soft and low Like the whole world dimmed itself to let you drift away Nothing in this house will move or wake or go You are the reason that we hold this quiet day

Pre-chorus

Close your eyes and let the whole house settle down Let the hush come rolling in and wrap around your head There's a warmth that's only yours, so gentle and so round

Chorus

Gillian, the night has come to keep you safe and still Somewhere close a light is glowing just for you There isn't any corner that the dark could ever fill Gillian, you're loved a hundred million ways and through

Bridge

Sleep can carry you so gently, further than you know While the ones who love you stay right here, and watch you go

Chorus

Gillian, the night has come to keep you safe and still Somewhere close a light is glowing just for you There isn't any corner that the dark could ever fill Gillian, you're loved a hundred million ways and through

Outro

That same soft light will still be glowing when you wake Warm along the floor, still shining there for your sake

Verse 1

The soot falls slow behind the iron grate tonight drifting down so gently in the dying firelight the flames are curling smaller now and you are wrapped up warm and out of sight

Chorus

Gillian, the embers glow so soft and low you are the warmest thing this quiet house will know rest here where the shadows move so gently, Gillian nothing in the dark can touch you, nowhere you must go

Verse 2

The old brick wall holds every whisper of the day watching as the last small sparks all drift away your breathing slows to match the hush and every worry simply melts and fades

Pre-chorus

Outside the wind is turning soft against the glass hush now, let the ticking clock and daylight pass close your eyes and feel how still it's grown

Chorus

Gillian, the embers glow so soft and low you are the warmest thing this quiet house will know rest here where the shadows move so gently, Gillian nothing in the dark can touch you, nowhere you must go

Bridge

Sleep is a blanket laid across the floor soft as the ash that settles by the door you are held here closer than a million stars

Chorus

Gillian, the embers glow so soft and low you are the warmest thing this quiet house will know rest here where the shadows move so gently, Gillian nothing in the dark can touch you, nowhere you must go

Outro

The soot has settled quiet now behind the grate and you are safe and sleeping, so calm, so still, so late

Verse 1

Amber light is spilling soft along the banister rail and it finds you where you're curled up, safe beneath your blanket's fold I would keep this quiet hour if I only had a way to sail past the morning, just to hold you longer than the night has told

Pre-chorus

Every little breath you take is settling soft and slow the house is dim and dreaming now, the hush begins to grow and all the love I carry for you wants so much to show

Chorus

Gillian, the light is low and gentle, made for you hush now, close your eyes, let every worry drift and thin you are held here safe as amber, through and through sleep now, Gillian, the whole wide night is tucked you in

Verse 2

You breathe so soft against the pillow, steady as a tide and the carpet holds the colours of a fire that won't burn every shadow on the landing knows you're tucked up safe inside and it waits there patient with you till the morning's slow return

Pre-chorus

Every little breath you take is settling soft and slow the house is dim and dreaming now, the hush begins to grow and all the love I carry for you wants so much to show

Chorus

Gillian, the light is low and gentle, made for you hush now, close your eyes, let every worry drift and thin you are held here safe as amber, through and through sleep now, Gillian, the whole wide night is tucked you in

Bridge

Nothing in the dark can find you, nothing means you harm only quiet colours falling gold across your arm

Chorus

Gillian, the light is low and gentle, made for you hush now, close your eyes, let every worry drift and thin you are held here safe as amber, through and through sleep now, Gillian, the whole wide night is tucked you in

Outro

The amber fades so slowly now, but you are held the same sleep on, sleep on, forever safe inside your gentle name