[Verse 1]
He showed up first and stayed the longest, never keeping score,
The one who memorized which friend needed what before they knocked the door,
Built his whole life like a house where everyone else had a room,
A mind that runs on seventeen ideas before the afternoon,
He carried the quiet weight of being the one who holds,
While the story of his own heart went mostly left untold,

[PreChorus]
But the ones who light the room for others still deserve the flame,
And every hand he ever held has been reaching back the same,

[Chorus]
Jayson, you are more than what you give away,
More than the calls you answered at the end of someone's hardest day,
The crowd you've kept together — that's the measure of your name,
Jayson, every one of us has been saving you a place,

[Verse 2]
He keeps his inner world like a book no one's been handed yet,
Learned to read a room by heart, learned to give before he'd get,
There's a part of him that wonders if the asking makes him less,
If needing something back would break the image of his best,
But there's a kind of courage that he's never let himself believe —
Opening both hands to catch instead of only how to give,

[PreChorus]
The same voice he lends so freely has something left to say,
And the arms that held up everyone are owed a place to lay,

[Chorus]
Jayson, you don't have to stand so tall alone,
The door you left unlocked for us — we're walking through it home,
Your heart's too wide to hollow out by letting someone in,
Jayson, being held by people who love you is not giving in,

[Verse 3]
The days are turning now the way September turns the air,
The harvest of a life well-lived laid out beyond compare,
Every act of loyalty, every 2 a.m. he gave,
Comes back around the table now — it's Jayson's turn to take,
The ones he showed up for are standing at his door today,
And all they're asking is that he let himself be seen that way,

[PreChorus]
He doesn't have to earn a love that's already been laid down,
The man who built the table now gets to sit and stay a round,

[Chorus]
Jayson, we've been watching you carry every stone,
Now lay it down a minute, brother, you are not alone,
Your heart was never too much — it was always more than enough,
Jayson, let the people who love you love you back, that's us,

[Bridge]
There's a version of strong that doesn't stand apart from the rest,
That lets the table turn and finally sits as a guest,
He's given his whole life as proof of what devotion can do —
Now the proof that he is loved is every one of us choosing him too,

[Outro]
The equinox comes level — equal dark and equal light,
Jayson, you were always worth the morning after every night,