[Verse 1]
Glittering lake under a splintering dock
I get a piece of it to take home
And I pick at the wood under skin
Sunlight slipping and spinning new days as I stood

[Pre-Chorus]
In a moment, I'll try to recapture
Through mushrooms and speeding through stop signs and bleeding
I wish there were things I never understood

[Chorus]
The time before knowing
The silence preceding a knock at the door
The light till shadows cast on me over and over again
How to be smaller again
To pretend

[Verse 2]
A beautiful wake, I cried too long and too late
After the service, for the kids running fast
Through the manicured lawn, untouched by what had been lost
Just for a moment, though I know it'll pass

[Pre-Chorus]
Losing is so long
All my love stuck in a time that will always be gone
[Chorus]
The time before knowing
The silence preceding a knock at the door
The light till shadows cast on me over and over again
How to be smaller again
To pretend

[Verse 3]
Showing in spades, my father's closeted rage
Sixteen and spitting back all the unsaid
He turned away and went silent, so appalled by the sight
Of all he had tried to put to rest

[Pre-Chorus]
Though it is fleeting in theory
A body remembers a notch in the wood
Though I was too young to have understood

[Chorus]
The beauty in the time before knowing
The silence that I could afford to endure
The light before shadow brought me a comfort that I can ignore
I can't live in before
Anymore