Narrow Is The Way

Lyrics

[Verse 1 - twangy honky-tonk piano, brushed drums, pedal steel sighing under a smoky lead vocal]
I was born where the neon hums like a backroad prayer,
Where the barroom saints and the Sunday folks both stop and stare.
And I heard an old red warning in a voice so low and clear,
“Son, the road that feels like freedom can disappear.”
It was wide as a river, easy as a lie,
Soft on the feet and bright to the eye,
But it drinks the daylight, leaves the bones to dust,
And the many keep on walking, never hearing what they must.

[Pre-Chorus - rising organ swell, distant choir pads, steel guitar bending like a cry]
Oh, He spoke it plain, He spoke it true,
A narrow gate, a harder view.
Not every road that welcomes you
Will carry you home, will carry you through.

[Chorus - full band swell, gospel choir answering the lead, shoegaze haze of reverbed guitars]
There’s a path that leads to life, but it’s narrow, narrow, narrow,
And it won’t let pride and hunger travel far, oh no.
There’s a wide road paved in laughter, lined in gold and sorrow,
And it ends in the dark where the lost winds blow.
Jesus, if You’re calling, let me hear You when You speak,
‘Cause the way that saves my soul is hard, but it’s the way I need.
Many find the road to ruin, few find the road that’s given,
Wide is the way to dying, but narrow is the way to living.

[Verse 2 - distorted dreamlike guitars, mournful fiddle, steady country pulse with choir humming beneath]
I’ve seen a man keep dancing on the edge of a cliff,
Laughing at the thunder, calling danger just a myth.
I’ve seen a woman chase the glitter till the glitter turned to ash,
And the hour came like judgment in a flash.
No one falls by accident when the warning bells are clear,
It’s the hush between the heartbeat, it’s refusing what you hear.
If Mercy stands before you and the Savior speaks your name,
Don’t let the easy answer hand you chains.

[Pre-Chorus - organ climbs higher, tambourine shaking, choir voices widening]
Oh, the door is small, the walk is steep,
And truth is not a dream to keep.
If He says come, then come and see
The life beyond what eyes can see.

[Chorus - bigger, more urgent, choir in full force, guitars washing like a wall of sound]
There’s a path that leads to life, but it’s narrow, narrow, narrow,
And it won’t let pride and hunger travel far, oh no.
There’s a wide road paved in laughter, lined in gold and sorrow,
And it ends in the dark where the lost winds blow.
Jesus, if You’re calling, let me hear You when You speak,
‘Cause the way that saves my soul is hard, but it’s the way I need.
Many find the road to ruin, few find the road that’s given,
Wide is the way to dying, but narrow is the way to living.

[Bridge - stripped-back piano and lone voice, then choir rising like a revival altar call]
If You say turn, I’ll turn around,
If You say kneel, I’ll touch the ground.
I don’t want the crowd, I don’t want fame,
I want the blessed wound of Your holy name.
Let the narrow road be mercy, let the hard way make me whole,
For the voice I must not miss is the Shepherd of my soul.

[Final Chorus - triumphant gospel choir, soaring shoegaze guitars, honky-tonk piano driving hard]
There’s a path that leads to life, and it’s narrow, narrow, narrow,
But it shines like dawn through the midnight sky.
There’s a wide road to destruction, sweet and sad and shallow,
And it swallows every soul that won’t reply.
Jesus, when You’re speaking, let my heart be quick to listen,
Let me choose the way of life, though it costs me all I’ve given.
Many find the road to ruin, few find the road that’s given,
Wide is the way to dying, but narrow is the way to living.

[Outro - fading organ, pedal steel tears, choir holding a final sacred chord]
Speak, Lord, I’m listening...
Speak, Lord, I’m listening...
Narrow is the way to living...
And I’m coming home.