In the Shadow of Our Dawn

[Intro / Recitative] [soft strings Piano punctuations] Once When the morning was gentle Your hand trembled in mine You smiled As if tomorrow Belonged to us I Heard the silence between your words A promise A warning Every breath you gave me Burned like a vow Love Cruel and tender Leads us where it wishes I follow I follow Though the path is falling away [Verse 1] [orchestra swells slightly] If I could hold back the turning sky I would barter my heart for one more hour Lay my name at your feet Walk barefoot through the fire Every joy you gave I keep it hidden Pressed like flowers in a secret page I would lose all light All honor All reason Just to stand beside your cage [Pre-Chorus] [piano and violins rise Brass hinting] You do not see the shadows I gather to my chest You only see a quiet smile And call it blessed But I have counted all the stars I know which ones must fall For you to live To breathe To be I offer all I offer all [Chorus] [full strings Broad tempo] In the shadow of our dawn I surrender what I am (ah—) Let the heavens break upon me Let the earth forget my name Take my days My blood My prayer Take the longing from your eyes If my heart must be the price I will pay I will pay For your life [Verse 2] [dynamic pulls back More intimate] Time Like a river behind us We cannot walk upstream Every step we take together Cuts deeper in the stream You Were the single bright answer To questions I never dared speak Now the answer is leaving And I must not be weak [Pre-Chorus] [tempo broadens Harmonic tension] Listen Love The night is calling Hear it whisper of the end All the doors are closing softly On the word "forever " my friend Yet if fate extends a dagger Let it find me Not your skin Let my sorrow be the circle That holds the darkness in [Grand Finale Chorus] [orchestra surging Brass and choir accents] In the shadow of our dawn I surrender what I am (ah—ah—) Let the tempest tear me open Let the stars forget my name Take my voice My final breath Seal it in your waking sigh If my heart must break in silence Let it break Let it break So you may rise [Climactic cadenza Voice soaring] Love My love My only truth My cruel delight If I must vanish from your morning I will guard you From the night— (held note, soaring) [Closing line Orchestra in full blaze then sudden hush] In the shadow of our dawning sky I am gone And you Survive