I wrote this while looking at love from every angle in my life. Parents and children, friends and lovers, and the stranger we may never see again. All the different ways we care for one another. Our humanity. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much of life fits inside that one word. For four little letters, it’s a damned big word.
Lyrics
Four little letters, one hell of a thing
Can make a grown man hurt, make a broken heart sing
It can raise up a house, it can tear one apart
Make a fool of your head, make a home of your heart
It's a hand on your shoulder when nothin' gets said
It's stayin' up worried till they make it home safe
It's tellin' the truth when the truth's gonna hurt
Fer four little letters, it's a damn big word
It's wantin' somebody without ownin' their soul
Knowin' when to hang on, knowin' when to let go
It's seein' yer fellow man, the scars and the shine
And givin' him room to live his life beside mine
It's forgivin' the hurt without callin' it right
It's drawin' a line and still wishin' 'em light
It's freedom and faith and all we have learned
Fer four little letters, it's a damn big word
It's "Did you eat?"
It's "Call when you're there"
It's pullin' up a chair
When there ain't nothin' to repair
It's laughin' like fools
It's cryin' when it hurts
Fer four little letters
It's a damn big word
It's friendship that stays when it don't have to stay
It's family you're born with or choose on the way
It's desire in the dark, it's a kiss in the mornin'
It's holdin' somebody when grief comes without warnin'
It's pride when they rise, it's grace when they fall
It's knowin' sometimes you can't save 'em at all
It's losin' somebody and still feelin' 'em here
It's holdin' on somehow when the body disappears
It's "Did you eat?"
It's "Call when you're there"
It's pullin' up a chair
When there ain't nothin' to repair
It's laughin' like fools
It's cryin' when it hurts
Fer four little letters
It's a damn big word
Maybe grief is just somethin'
With nowhere left to land
Maybe faith is still reachin'
For what we can't understand
Maybe when all this is over
And we've said our final words
What matters is how well we carried
That one little word
So hold 'em while they're here
Say it while you can
Give 'em room to be themselves
And still reach for their hand
There ain't much in this life
That comes without hurt
Fer four little letters
It's a damn big word
Yeah, fer four little letters
That's one hell of a word