The Builder's Hands (Song for Dave)

Verse

Lord, I’m grateful for the men You place

Along the road when the doubt runs deep.

The ones who stand beside the exit door

And say, "Go on, I’ll be here when you leap."

He came out of Buffalo with a builder's hands,

And he never once put the hammer down.

From high school floats to the circuit boards and plans,

He was always raising something up from the ground.

Pre-chorus

He taught the neighborhood kids how to weld,

Showed his boy the way a Scout stands tall.

Walked beside his daughter, steady and held...

Yeah, he gave himself completely to them all.

Chorus

Oh, the good ones leave a shadow

Brighter than the afternoon sun.

They don’t add up their victories,

They just ask, "What needs to be done?"

They build things with their own two hands,

And they weather the storm when it blows.

Oh, Dave, you were the first to believe,

And the best that the road ever knows.

Verse

In Washington, he found his purest joy,

Where the evergreen meets the salt of the sea.

Trading boardrooms for the sound of a girl and boy,

And a maker space down on a quiet street.

Two little granddaughters, Willow and Maple sweet,

He lived the Word without making a noise.

Loved his Wendy, thirty-seven years devout—

A lifetime of quiet, unbreakable choice.

Chorus

Oh, the good ones leave a shadow

Brighter than the afternoon sun.

They don’t add up their victories,

They just ask, "What needs to be done?"

They build things with their own two hands,

And they weather the storm when it blows.

Oh, Dave, you were the first to believe,

And the best that the road ever knows.

Bridge

Now I’m standing right here, hat in hand,

Still half-expecting your name to light my phone.

But You called him home to a better land—

He didn't go quietly, he went well-known.

Known for the warmth left in every single room,

For the trust that he gave before it was earned,

The way he lit a candle against the gloom

And asked for absolutely nothing in return.

Outro

From Buffalo to Silicon Valley,

To the gray Pacific shore...

We paved a road through the weather, Dave.

Yeah, we built something built to endure.

So rest easy now...

You were the first to believe.

The best to the end...

And so much more.