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
Copyright
Lyrics: © 2026 J. Ryan Johnson. All rights reserved.
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.