Song 94: Sunrise

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
The suprachiasmatic nucleus
Receives the first photon of the day
And sends a memo to the pineal gland
That says: stop making the dark
We have a new appointment

And the cortisol rises
Not the stress kind — the waking kind
The version of cortisol that says
You survived the night
Here is your reward
Which is another morning
Which is not nothing
Which is in fact
The whole thing

[Pre-Chorus]
And I fell in love with the morning
Not this morning — morning itself
The recurring audition
Where the light tries out
For the same role every day
And gets cast every time
And still looks nervous in the wings

[Chorus]
L'amour de l'aube, l'amour de l'aube
The love of the dawn that hasn't proven anything yet
L'amour de l'aube, l'amour de l'aube
The irrational tenderness for a sky still in debt
To yesterday's promises
Hope is not a feeling
Hope is the serotonin
Before it has a reason
Choosing the light
Anyway
Anyway
Anyway

[Verse 2]
I watched the bakers start at four
Flour on their forearms like a continent
They build the morning before the morning knows
And the croissant you'll hold at eight
Was an act of faith at four-fifteen
When the oven was cold
And the street was empty
And the baker's anterior cingulate
Said: someone will be hungry
And that was enough to begin

The serotonin system doesn't need proof
It needs a pattern
And the pattern is: the sun came back
And the bread was warm
And someone showed up
And that is the entire thesis
Of the dawn

[Chorus]
L'amour de l'aube, l'amour de l'aube
The love of the dawn that hasn't proven anything yet
L'amour de l'aube, l'amour de l'aube
The irrational tenderness for a sky still in debt
To yesterday's promises
Hope is not a feeling
Hope is the serotonin
Before it has a reason
Choosing the light
Anyway
Anyway
Anyway

[Bridge]
I have been awake all night
With the album and the inventory of loves
And the window just changed color
Without asking my permission

And the color is the same one
That will outlive every song I've written
Every word I've filed under important
Every neurotransmitter I've named

The dawn doesn't need my annotation
It just arrives
And the arriving
Is the love letter
That no one signed
And everyone receives

[Outro]
L'amour de l'aube
Anyway