SHE CARRIED THE LIGHT

 

Words and Music by Peter Merz

 

(Bluegrass/Gospel Ballad)

 

(For my mother, Anne Merz 1944-2025)

 

[INSTRUMENTAL INTRO]

 

[VERSE 1]

Born where the Smoky winds blow,
In the hush where the tall pines grow.
Child of the South with a spark in her eyes,
Raised on hymns and clear blue skies.

 

[VERSE 2]

She walked through Missouri clay,
Tread Kansas fields at break of day.
Maryland snow and California rain,
Each road a verse, each mile a name.

 

[PRE-CHORUS]

The faith her mother lit in her
Became a flame, grew ever brighter—brighter.

 

[CHORUS]

She carried the light through the valley of pain,
Walked with the Shepherd, called Him by name.
With the Word in her hand and truth in her bones,
She was never alone, never alone.

 

[VERSE 3]

On her knees when the night was long,
Cried out Heaven's name with a warrior's song.
Fought not with fists, but grace and tears—
A lioness with no fear.

 

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

 

[SILENT PAUSE]

 

[BRIDGE]

The truth will sometimes cut you deep,
She bore the scars the brave ones keep.
Spoke from her heart, but would not bend,
Even when it cost a friend.

 

[VERSE 4]

Dog-eared pages, the smell of ink,
Books and poems, her place to think.
Words like rivers from her hand,
A soul no chain could ever strand.

 

[INSTRUMENTAL SOLO]

 

[FINAL CHORUS]

She carried the light, and now it shines on,
In every prayer, in every song.
She walked the road, now she’s gone ahead—
But the truth she lived is never dead.

 

[INSTRUMENTAL INTERLUDE]

 

[OUTRO]

In her final hours, her heart drew near,
To the voice she’d longed all her life to hear:
“Well done, My child, My light shone clear.
Come rest now, and wipe away every tear.”

 

[FADE OUT]

 

Copyright ©2025 Scribe And Sage Music (BMI). All Rights Reserved.