**「After the Applause」**

I sang to the cold on a quiet street
Just to hear my voice
No one stopped, no one turned
I almost lost the choice
(oh…)
(stay…)

Then you leaned in, you didn’t smile
Just one soft thing you said
“You sound good,” nothing more
But it stayed in my head

Not a dream, not a plan
Just a hand in the dark
It didn’t save me that night
But it left a mark
(hmm… it left a mark…)

I didn’t know how a simple line
Could follow me around
How something said in passing
Keeps living in the sound

After the applause fades away
What do we keep, what do we say
I keep singing what feels true
In a quiet room, just me and you
(After the applause…)
(I keep singing…)

Years rolled on, my name grew loud
Lights learned my face
They called my hurt “honest and new”
Put beauty on the ache

Crowds feel close, then disappear
When the night is done
I walk home with the echo still
Asking who I’ve become
(who I’ve become…)

I learned how praise can lift you up
And tie you down inside
How we pass it on so easily
Without knowing why

After the applause fades away
I hear those same old words you say
They keep me standing, keep me scared
They make me brave, they leave me bare
(After the applause…)
(Still it stays…)

I met a boy with a shaking voice
Singing just to breathe
Holding truth in borrowed chords
Like it was all he had to keep

I saw myself in his tired eyes
Standing next to me
Same small fear, same quiet hope
Looking back at me

I smiled and said the easiest thing
The thing I once survived
“You sound good,” I heard myself say
Watched his hope come alive
(oh no…)
(oh no…)

After the applause fades away
We give our hope the same old way
Just a few words, simple and small
To help each other not to fall

(After the applause!)
(After the applause!)
(We keep passing it on!)
(We keep passing it on!)

Sing it soft, sing it low
Sing it so they’ll never know
Say the words that let you stay
Pass them on anyway

(After the applause!)
(After the applause!)
(Oh—after the applause!)

When the claps are gone and the lights go down
That line still follows me
Not enough to save a life
Just enough to help us breathe
(ah…)
(ah…)

**「拍手のあとで」**

静かな通りの冷たい空気に
自分の声を確かめるように歌った
誰も振り向かず　誰も止まらず
もうやめようかと思った
(oh…)
(stay…)

あなたは少し近づいて
笑いもせずに　ただ一言
「いい声だね」それだけが
頭から離れなかった

夢でもなく　約束でもなく
暗闇に差した手
あの夜を救いはしなかった
でも　跡を残した
(hmm… it left a mark…)

言葉がこんなふうに
あとを追ってくるなんて
通りすがりの一言が
音の中で生き続けるなんて

拍手が消えたそのあとで
何を抱いて　何を言う
私はただ　本当だと思うことを
静かな部屋で歌ってる
(After the applause…)
(I keep singing…)

時が流れ　名前が広がり
光が顔を覚えた
痛みは「正直だ」と呼ばれ
きれいな言葉を着せられた

人は集まり　そして消える
夜が終わるたび
残るのは　鳴りやまない余韻と
私は誰？という問い
(who I’ve become…)

褒め言葉が人を持ち上げ
同時に縛ること
気づかぬまま渡してしまう
理由も知らずに

拍手が消えたそのあとで
あなたの言葉がまた聞こえる
立たせてくれて　怖くもして
強くして　裸にした
(After the applause…)
(Still it stays…)

震える声で歌う少年に
息をするみたいに
借り物のコードに真実を
必死に抱えて

疲れたその目の奥に
昔の私がいた
同じ怖さ　同じ小さな希望が
こちらを見ていた

私は笑って　一番簡単な
あの言葉を言った
「いい声だね」
彼の目に灯る光を見た
(oh no…)
(oh no…)

拍手が消えたそのあとで
希望は同じ形で渡される
ほんの一言　小さな音
転ばないための言葉

(After the applause!)
(After the applause!)
(We keep passing it on!)
(We keep passing it on!)

小さく歌って　低く歌って
誰にも知られなくても
あなたを留めたその言葉
また誰かへ

(After the applause!)
(After the applause!)
(Oh—after the applause!)

拍手が止み　灯りが落ちても
あの言葉は消えない
命を救うほどじゃない
ただ　息をさせるだけ
(ah…)
(ah…)