The Twelve-Year-Old List

[Intro]
[Verse]
Dusty light in the attic eaves
Sifting through the summer leaves
Grandma’s turning eighty years today
Found a cedar chest tucked away
Lid creaks like a ghost on the floor
I haven’t been here since I was four
Wait, there’s a paper with a jagged edge
Tucked beneath a dusty velvet ledge
[Pre-Chorus]
Faded ink and blue-lined dreams
Tearing slightly at the seams
Twelve years old and thinking big
Dancing a little childhood jig
[Chorus]
Turns out I’m living my own movie
Everything I wanted is right here with me
Sipping sweet tea on a sun-bleached swing
Hearing how the porch-side crickets sing
Got a porch light and a hound dog too
And a boy who brings me wildflowers in dew
I checked the boxes before I even knew
Yeah, my twelve-year-old self was right about you
[Post-Chorus]
Right about you
Yeah, it's all true
[Verse]
I wrote down "get a dog with floppy ears"
To chase away all my lonely fears
Now Barnaby’s sleeping in the truck
Guess I had a little stroke of luck
Checkered tablecloths and vanilla crumbs
Strumming on my guitar with my thumbs
Firefly jars on the window sill
Everything’s quiet and everything’s still
[Pre-Chorus]
I see the girl I used to be
Looking through the glass at me
She had a plan and she had a heart
And I’ve been playing my favorite part
[Chorus]
Turns out I’m living my own movie
Everything I wanted is right here with me
Sipping sweet tea on a sun-bleached swing
Hearing how the porch-side crickets sing
Got a porch light and a hound dog too
And a boy who brings me wildflowers in dew
I checked the boxes before I even knew
Yeah, my twelve-year-old self was right about you
[Bridge]
I thought I needed the city lights
To fill up all my Saturday nights
But the magic was in the cedar wood
I finally understood it like I should
Life isn’t about the things you chase
It’s about the smile on your grandma’s face
[Solo]
[Chorus]
Turns out I’m living my own movie
Everything I wanted is right here with me
Sipping sweet tea on a sun-bleached swing
Hearing how the porch-side crickets sing
Got a porch light and a hound dog too
And a boy who brings me wildflowers in dew
I checked the boxes before I even knew
Yeah, my twelve-year-old self was right about you
[Post-Chorus]
I’m right where I belong
Like the bridge of a favorite song
Yeah, I checked the boxes through
And I found my way back home to you
[Breakdown]
Fold it up, put it back in the chest
Give my racing heart a little rest
Maybe one day my daughter will find
The same sweet magic I left behind
[Outro]