Still A Way Back
Still A Way Back is a release by Mike Vernell. Stream it on every major platform or read the story behind the song on mikevernell.com.
Spotify · Apple Music
Contact: info@silvergatemusic.com · mikevernell.com
Lyrics
How Did We Get Here
Ten years gone and I still know this room
Still know the silence, still know the perfume
Still know the way you turn away
Right before the words get too hard to say
We said last time was the last time then
Said we would not end up here again
But here we are with the same tired stare
Asking how love can thin this air
We have worn these circles in the floor
Walked them so many nights before
Different years, same heavy scene
Different lights, same in-between
I know your face when your heart shuts down
You know mine when I start to drown
And somewhere under all this pain
I still hear us trying to remain
How did we get here again?
How did love lose where it had been?
Was it one night, or a thousand small fears
Falling between the years?
How did we get here
After all the roads we said we'd never cross?
How did we get here
Holding on and still feeling lost?
We've been here before
Standing in the ruins of what we swore
How did we get here
And do we still know what we're fighting for?
I'm not young enough to call this fate
Not old enough to say it's just too late
But I'm tired of the same goodbye
Living halfway in your eyes
If love is still here, let it speak
Not through anger, not through losing sleep
Just one clear truth, one honest prayer
Tell me there's still something there
Maybe we were careless
Maybe we were proud
Maybe we got used to pain
And called that love out loud
Maybe there's a doorway
Still somewhere in view
But if we walk through it
It can't be the same old you and me
Pretending we're new
How did we get here
After all the roads we said we'd never cross?
How did we get here
Holding on and still feeling lost?
We've been here before
Standing in the ruins of what we swore
How did we get here
And do we still know what we're fighting for?
How did we get here
Ten years later with the same old ache?
How did we get here
How much more of this can love still take?
If there's a way back
It won't be found in the same mistakes
How did we get here
And what do we have to change?
Too Much Talk
We started with a fire and a feeling in our hands
Laughing at the world like it would always understand
Now every little moment turns a corner way too fast
One word becomes another and the good part never lasts
I know you still love me, I can see it in your eyes
Even when the silence fills the room with little knives
Somewhere in the middle of the hurt and all the heat
We keep turning love to thunder every time we speak
You say I don't listen, I say you don't let things go
We circle round the same old lines till neither one of us knows
I'm tired of being right when the night feels this wrong
Tired of losing pieces of us just to win one song
And I don't wanna leave you, that's the hardest honest truth
Even when the sharpest words come flying through the room
I still reach for your shadow when you walk away
Like my heart already knows what my pride won't say, yeah
If love is still here, why's it hurting like this
Why do we break what we don't wanna miss
Tell me can we slow down before we go too far
And remember who we are
Too much talk, not enough love
Too many sparks and not enough touch
Too much fire when we should hold on
Too many nights where the feeling goes wrong
I know it's real, I know it's us
I just don't know if that's enough
Too much talk, not enough love
Can we still make this what we dreamt of
I don't need perfection, I just need some peace
Away from all this heavy little fighting to decrease
If we're both still standing here with hearts that haven't run
Maybe there's a road back to the place where we were one
So tell me is it worth it? Tell me can it change
Can too tired a heart still learn a softer way
I don't wanna lose you to the noise we make
Not for love's sake
Too much talk, not enough love
Too many sparks and not enough touch
Too much fire when we should hold on
Too many nights where the feeling goes wrong
I know it's real, I know it's us
I just don't know if that's enough
Too much talk, not enough love
Can we still make this what we dreamt of
Too much talk, not enough love
Still I'm here and I won't give up
Too much pain when we should be trust
Too much noise where it should be us
If you still love me like I love you
Maybe we can make our way back through
Too much talk, not enough love
Let's change before we lose too much
When Love Gets Heavy
Lately every doorway feels a little hard to cross
Like I'm stepping through a silence that already counts the cost
Every question sounds familiar, every answer feels too small
And I can feel us getting tired from the weight behind it all
I still see the love between us in the way you say my name
But somehow little shadows keep on leaning into frame
And I don't know how we got here from the way we used to move
Now we're standing in the same room with so much left to prove
Maybe it's the hurt we carry, maybe it's the fear we hide
Maybe you're gonna show up dancing when the night gets deep inside
I'm not trying to blame you, I'm not saying I'm alright
I just know that something fragile keeps on bending every night
And I don't wanna lose you to a storm we never named
To the tension in the corners or the heat inside the flame
I still reach for what is good in us, I still believe it's there
But love can't breathe forever if it's drowning in the air
How do we calm down when the room gets tight
How do we hold on without another fight
If love is still here, then help me see how we get back to easy
When love gets heavy, can make a good thing feel hard to hold
When love gets heavy, even warm hands start to feel too cold
I need truth, I need trust, I need less of the strain between us
When love gets heavy, can we lift it before it breaks us
I don't need a perfect story, I just need a softer place
Somewhere we can lay our worry down and look each other in the face
If we're both still here and neither heart is turned away
Maybe there's still something worth protecting if we change
So tell me, can we slow it? Can we let it heal
Can we stop reaching for the worst before we know what's real
I'm still here, I still want us
But this has to get lighter for both of us
When love gets heavy, it can make a good thing feel hard to hold
When love gets heavy, even warm hands start to feel too cold
I need truth, I need trust, I need less of the strain between us
When love gets heavy, can we lift it before it breaks us
When love gets heavy, I don't wanna call that all we are
When love gets heavy, we forget how good we really are
There's still a way back through, I'll meet you there if you want me to
When love gets heavy, let's not let it bury us
When love gets heavy, we forget how good we really are
Can I Love You As You Are
Can I love you as you are
I know what I want, I can say that much
Something honest, something steady, something I can trust
But I don't know what I'm getting when the room goes cold
When you change with every weather and I lose my hold
Some nights you're all in, like a fire in the dark
Other nights you pull away and leave me with a spark
And I keep standing in the middle of the same old ache
Wondering if this is love or just a shape we make
I keep thinking maybe I can help you find your way
Maybe if I hold on long enough the hard parts fade
But then I ask myself a question I can't push aside
Is it love if I keep waiting for a different you inside
I'm not here to fix you, I'm not here to bend your soul
But I don't know if staying still will ever make us whole
And every time I reach for clarity it slips through my hands
Like a dream that almost lands
Do I take you as you are
Or keep hoping for a softer kind of heart
Do I stay and let it be
Or lose myself trying to change what I can't reach
Can I love you as you are
Can I hold this without falling apart
I know what I want but I don't know what I'll get
And I don't know if that's a risk worth taking yet
If I change you is it real
If I don't will this ever heal
Can I love you as you are
Is that where the breaking starts
I don't need perfection
I just need something true
A little less confusion every time I'm next to you
If love is meant to grow
Then maybe both hearts move
Not one doing all the proving
So tell me what are we
If I keep asking for what you don't see
I'm still here but I can't ignore
The question knocking at my door
Can I love you as you are
Can I hold this without falling apart
I know what I want but I don't know what I'll get
And I don't know if that's a risk worth taking yet
If I change you is it real
If I don't will this ever heal
Can I love you as you are
Is that where the breaking starts
Can I love you as you are
When your silence cuts a little too hard
I know what I want but I don't know what will stay
Or if we're building something strong or fading day by day
If love means truth then let it show
Don't make me beg for what should grow
Can I love you as you are
Or do I have to let you go
What Is Love
What is love when the lights go low?
Is it staying still or letting go?
Is it fire, is it peace, is it just two hearts
Trying to keep time when the world falls apart?
What is love when the night runs long?
Is it being right or just holding on?
Is it somebody waiting when the room turns cold,
Or just a pretty word we've been taught to hold?
What is love when the thrill wears down?
When the drinks are gone and the truth comes round?
Is it waking up and still choosing "us,"
When the shine gets thin and the days get tough?
What is love, is it two made one?
Or two standing close but still being strong?
Is it losing yourself, or being more complete?
Tell me what it means when two souls meet.
Is it trust, is it time, is it work, is it grace?
Is it finding your home in another face?
I've been asking the night, I've been asking the stars,
What is love really, what are we really for?
What is love?
Is it enough just to feel it?
What is love?
If you can't learn how to heal it?
Is it two hands, one dream,
One hard road, one team?
What is love? Tell me what it means.
Maybe love is not a perfect line,
Maybe love is just hard-earned time.
Maybe love is knowing when to bend,
And when to hold on again.
Maybe love ain't thunder,
Maybe love ain't flame.
Maybe love is showing up
When it's not the same.
Maybe love is choosing,
Not just falling through.
Maybe love is learning
How to tell the truth.
What is love?
Is it enough just to feel it?
What is love?
If you can't learn how to heal it?
Is it two hands, one dream,
One hard road, one team?
What is love? Tell me what it means.
What is love?
Maybe it's staying and growing.
What is love?
Maybe it's truth in the showing.
If it's two hearts, one chance,
One more song, one dance,
What is love? Maybe this is how we find out.
Like You Without the Trouble
I told you once, I told you twice,
If you crossed that line, we'd pay the price.
I didn't wanna make that call,
But you kept on walking like you knew it all.
And when I saw it happen there,
That same old smoke, that same old air,
I felt my whole night break in two,
And I ran outside before I ran to you.
Taxi glass and city light,
Midnight shaking in the rear-view white.
I'm sitting there with my coat half on,
Thinking how the hell did we go this wrong?
I reached for my phone, then pulled it back,
Thought "do I really wanna start like that?"
Tinder waiting like a neon sign,
But my heart was still too full of you to swipe.
So I started making up a face,
A future woman in a safer place.
She'd laugh like you, move like you do,
But never drag me through what you drag me through.
Like you without the trouble,
Like your fire without the smoke.
Like your kiss without the damage,
Like your love without the choke.
I keep searching through the hurt for proof
There's somebody out there with your kind of truth.
Like you without the trouble...
Or is it only you?
Maybe I'm a fool for still wanting your light,
Just not the storm that comes every night.
Maybe what I need don't exist at all,
Maybe real love always walks that wall.
If I found her tonight, would she feel the same?
Would she carry your heat but not your blame?
Would she know how to hold me and let me breathe?
Or am I just writing a dream I need?
Like you without the trouble,
Like your fire without the smoke.
Like your kiss without the damage,
Like your love without the choke.
I keep searching through the hurt for proof
There's somebody out there with your kind of truth.
Like you without the trouble...
Or is it only you?
Like you without the trouble,
Like your heart without the war.
Like your touch without the breaking,
Like your voice outside that door.
If I leave tonight, what am I leaving for?
A dream of you with less, or something more?
Like you without the trouble...
Tell me, is she real at all?
Strong Enough Alone
I used to think I needed somebody
To keep the dark from getting too loud
Somebody warm when the room went empty
Somebody soft when the world got proud
But I've been carrying my own weight lately
Learning how to stand when the floor gets thin
Looking in the mirror like, hey, maybe
I've had more fire than I let you in
Now I walk a little lighter through the midnight
A little more soul in the way I move
Got my own name humming in the streetlight
Got my own hands, got my own groove
Still there's a voice in the back of my mind saying
Don't get too brave, don't get too gone
So I smile at the room while my heart keeps asking
If being strong means being alone
I can dance by myself, I can raise my glass
I can laugh real loud when the hard days pass
I can build me a life with these two hands strong
But tell me, is that where I belong
Maybe I'm strong enough alone
Strong enough to make my own way home
Strong enough to light my own night
Strong enough to hold my own light
But when the music fades and the crowd is gone
Will I still feel whole when I'm on my own
Maybe I'm strong enough alone
Or maybe I just learned to carry on
I don't need to say that I know that much now
I'm not the man I was before
But strength ain't always shutting every door
Sometimes it's knowing what your heart is for
Maybe love is not a weakness, maybe need is not a chain
Maybe standing on my own two feet don't mean I have to love the rain
Maybe I'm enough, and maybe that is true
But maybe enough still leaves some room
Maybe I'm strong enough alone
Strong enough to make my own way home
Strong enough to light my own night
Strong enough to hold my own light
But when the music fades and the crowd is gone
Will I still feel whole when I'm on my own
Maybe I'm strong enough alone
Or maybe I just learned to carry on
Maybe I'm strong enough alone
Maybe I don't need nobody to save my soul
Strong enough to stand up tall
Strong enough to rise through it all
But if love comes clean and it comes on true
Maybe strength makes room for that too
Maybe I'm strong enough alone
But I still don't know, do you
Maybe I'm strong enough alone
But I still don't know, do you
Free at Last Tonight
Been replayin' lines that I don't need
And now the mirror says, boy, keep walkin
And my heart beats, pickin' up speed
Choir keeps hummin' low, sayin' move on, move on
I got soul in my step and light in my hands
Got no use for the weight I knew
I'm done talkin' to yesterday's ghost now
I got too much livin' to do
See, I'm not runnin' away from nothin
I'm just finally choosin' me
There's a whole new road in front of me openin
And tonight I can breathe
Turn the page, let it fly
Leave the old smoke out in the night
Take the hurt, let it go
Watch me step into my own glow
I feel free at last tonight
Free at last tonight
No lookin' back
No holdin' tight
I feel free at last tonight
Free at last tonight
New show, new step
New state of mind
We turn the page
We move on through
There's a brighter beat
And I'm dancin' to it too
I feel free at last tonight
And the whole room knows it
Whoo
Not sayin' life won't shake me
Not sayin' storms won't rise
But I know now I can meet them
With my head up and my eyes alive
Maybe freedom ain't a big thing
Hey, maybe it starts with one small choice
One step out of the old silence
One yes inside your voice
So if you've been stuck in a shadow
Come stand here in the light with me
There's enough room on this dance floor
For a brand new history
Free at last tonight
Hey, hey, hey
No lookin' back
No holdin' tight
I feel free at last tonight
I feel free at last tonight
New show, new step
New state of mind
We turn the page
We move on through
There's a brighter beat
And I'm dancin' to it too
I feel free at last tonight
And the whole room knows it
I feel free at last
Whoo
I feel free
Hey
I feel free at last tonight
I feel high and my future bright
I feel free
All the way, all the way
No more fear gonna steal my light
We turn the page
We move on strong
And the band keeps playin' my freedom song
I feel free at last tonight
Yeah, we're dancin' through it
Whoo
Whoo
Whoo
Whoo
Whoo
Whoo
Can We Find the Rhythm Again
Can we find the rhythm again
Can we find the rhythm again
Can we find the rhythm again
We've had too many nights where the room got tight
Too many sparks and the wrong kind of light
Too many words that came out hard
Too many little cracks in a faithful heart
But I'm still here, and you're still here
So maybe this ain't gone just bent by fear
Maybe all this noise ain't all we've been
Maybe there's a way to breathe again
I know what hurts and I know what stays
I know how love can get lost in the blame
I know we both got habits that bruise
And I know we both got things to lose
So what do we fix, what do we keep
What do we say when the pain runs deep
Do we keep pulling till the line gives in
Or do we learn a different kind of spin
Do we need new rules, new air, new ground
Do we need less heat when the dark comes down
Do we need more truth, more trust, less pride
Tell me where the next step lies
Can we find the rhythm again
Can we get back under each other's skin
Without the noise, without the strain
Can we find the rhythm again
I don't wanna lose what we could've been
If there's a new way through this pain
Can we find the rhythm again
I'm not asking for a different you
Just a better road for us to move through
Not perfection, not some movie end
Just enough love to try again
Maybe the answer ain't walking away
Maybe it's changing the way that we stay
Maybe the future ain't fixing the past
Maybe it's learning
What can really last
Can we find the rhythm again
Can we get back under each other's skin
Without the noise, without the strain
Can we find the rhythm again
I don't wanna lose what we could've been
If there's a new way through this pain
Can we find the rhythm again
Can we turn this fight into a better win
A little more soul, a little less blame
Can we find the rhythm again
Can we both change what needs to change
Maybe love don't have to end this way
Can we find the rhythm again
Can we find the rhythm
Can we find the rhythm again
If We Try Again
We've stood on this line before,
Halfway in, halfway out the door.
Said maybe love had had its say,
Then still found reasons not to walk away.
I know the shape of every scar,
I know how close and far we are.
But something in the way you looked tonight
Made me wonder if we still got light.
Maybe we were tired, maybe we were loud,
Maybe we let the wrong things gather round.
Maybe we forgot what we began,
Trying to survive instead of understand.
But if there's still a pulse in this,
Still one real thing we don't wanna miss,
Then maybe ending isn't the only way,
Maybe there's something left to save.
If we try again,
We can't be the same two hearts.
If we try again,
We've got to start where the truth starts.
No more pride, no more blame,
No more playing old games.
If we try again,
Let it mean something.
If we try again,
Can we do it with our eyes wide open?
If we try again,
Can we say the things we leave unspoken?
I don't want the past,
I don't want pretend.
I just want to know
What could happen if we try again.
I'm not asking for an easy road,
Just a lighter way to hold the load.
If love is still alive in there,
Then maybe we still get one prayer.
Maybe love is not the ending,
Maybe love's the second chance.
Maybe what we broke can breathe again
If we let it stand.
Maybe all we need
Is less fear, more truth,
And one brave step
From me and you.
If we try again,
Can we do it with our eyes wide open?
If we try again,
Can we say the things we leave unspoken?
I don't want the past,
I don't want pretend.
I just want to know
What could happen if we try again.
If we try again,
Let it be for something real this time.
If we try again,
Let it grow instead of just survive.
I don't need perfect,
I just need true.
And I still believe
There might be a way for me and you.
One More Road Home
I've been down the streets of leaving I've been down the lane of pride
Tried to wear that freedom easy With a storm still on the inside
I've said enough a hundred times now Watch the night go cold and long
But every road I ran to Still kept bringing your name along
Maybe love ain't clean and simple Maybe truth comes late sometimes
Maybe hearts get lost in circles Trying to heal the wrong old lies
But if we know what broke the rhythm If we know where the fire starts
Then maybe one more road is waiting Not to the past, but to our hearts
Not the same words, not the same fight Not the same shadows in the same night
If we go back, let it be new Built on the truth of me and you
One more road home One more shot before the night is gone
One more road home Maybe love was hurt, not wrong
If there's still a spark beneath the smoke If there's still a vow that never broke
Then there's one more road home And I still wanna take it with you
I'm not asking for forever Like it's easy, light, or small
I'm just asking if there's still enough To answer one last call
Maybe hope is not pretending Maybe hope is what we made
After all the hurt and distance After all the smoke and blaze
Maybe love is not the first fire Maybe it's the one that stays
Maybe what we need is not escape But one more honest way
One more road home One more shot before the night is gone
One more road home Maybe love was hurt, not wrong
If there's still a spark beneath the smoke If there's still a vow that never broke
Then there's one more road home And I still wanna take it with you
One more road home Take me home
Take me home Not to the pain we used to know
One more road home To a better truth, to a better soul
If we can change what needs to change Then maybe love don't end in flames
There's one more road home And I still believe we'll find it
One more road home One more road home
One more road home