A LIFE LIVED
Walk Alone ~ Michael Nin
[Verse 1]
Two boys in an orphanage room
Two metal beds and a painted moon.
Hallway light through a broken door
You said you were scared of the dark
I told you, “Kid, you’ll be alright.”
I stayed awake most every night
Listening to your breathing slow
Making sure you didn’t go
[Verse 2]
We grew up hard, we grew up fast
Different towns, different pasts
I tried to keep you close to me
But life pulled you out to sea
Late-night calls and empty lies
Something fading in your eyes
You said you had it under control
But I could hear it in your soul
[Chorus]
I tried to stand between you and the dark
Like a wall around your heart
But some storms run through the bone
Some roads you walk alone
Now the silence says your name
Like an echo in the rain
Every night I ask the same
Why I couldn’t save you
[Verse 3]
I remember when we were young
Running wild in the summer sun
Laughing like the world was ours
Before the shadows left their scars
Sometimes when the night is still
I swear I hear you on the wind,
Like a voice across the years
Saying, “Brother… I’m alright again.”
[Bridge]
I was supposed to be the one
Who kept you safe from what would come
That’s the promise that I made
The promise that I couldn’t save
[Final Chorus]
I tried to stand between you and the dark
Like a shield around your heart
But addiction steals the light
In the middle of the fight
Now the years keep moving on
But the question’s never gone
Every song I sing your name
For the one I couldn’t save
[Outro]
Two boys in an orphanage room
Two metal beds and a painted moon.
If heaven keeps a light on somewhere
I hope it’s shining over you.
I hope it’s shining over you
Walk Alone — Liner Notes
Walk Alone comes from a very personal place. My younger brother and I grew up in institutions — orphanages and boys’ homes — after our mother had me when she was just fifteen years old. I never blamed her. I can’t imagine trying to raise a child at that age. Life simply unfolded the way it did.
From the time we were kids sharing those small institutional rooms with two metal beds and a hallway light shining through the door, I always felt responsible for him. In my mind I was his keeper, the one who was supposed to stand between him and whatever darkness life might bring.
But life doesn’t always work that way.
As we got older, addiction slowly took hold of him. I tried to keep him close, tried to protect him the way an older brother believes he can, but some storms are stronger than love alone. That realization — that sometimes the people we love most still have to walk their own road — is the heart of this song.
Walk Alone is my way of remembering those two boys in that orphanage room and the promise I believed I could keep. It’s also my way of saying that even though he’s gone, I’m still singing his name into the world.
