For It All

Lyrics

For It All

The radiator’s humming
The lights are turned down low
I’m leaning on the counter
Watching headlights on the road
There’s a pair of my boots
And the mail I haven’t read
By their faded crayon drawings
Hanging on by a thread
I’m pacing in my mind
They’re sleeping down the hall
I’m carrying this weight in silence
Knowing I’ve hit a wall

     I don’t say it
     I just carry it around
     Like the dirt in the floorboards
     And the rain that won’t come down
     I love them more than living
     But some days I disappear
     Struggling to be the man they need
     Still looking for me here

She asks me if I’m tired
I say, “Baby, I’m alright”
But there’s tired in my body
And there’s tired in this fight
There's a kind that comes from working
Another comes from fear
Of the monsters at my doorway
That I won't let get too near
But I can’t always stop my temper
I don’t always hold my tongue
And I pray they don't just remember
All the times I’ve come undone

     Repeat Chorus

I don’t cry where they can see me
I never fall apart in the light
I just hug them in the doorway
And I make it through the night
I hope they know I love them
When my hands and heart are tired
But underneath the man they need
There’s another child inside

     Repeat Chorus

But when the house gets quiet
And I’m standing in this hall
I listen to them dreaming
And thank God for it all

Writer: J. Ryan Johnson (BMI)
Copyright: © 2026 J. Ryan Johnson. All rights reserved.
Phone: +1 (407) 902-5419
Email: hello [at] tenthirtyam [dot] org

Songwriter Note

I am a songwriter and a musician, but I'm not confident that I have the voice that's needed to inhabit these verses.

My hope is that these words eventually find an artist and storyteller to help me breathe life into them. If that collaboration never comes, I may record them myself rather than let them settle into silence.

Until then, they remain as they were born: quiet reflections on the grit, grace, and shadows just north of the county line.