The days are getting shorter and the night air's coming colder And the smell of fallen leaves afire burns inside my lungs There's a time when all the pasture begins to bathe in amber And like everything in life and love, the year has got to fade And the end of summer comes to take us all The end of summer teaches us to fall My friends all left my hometown, and left Kate and I to learn That the quicker that you build a house, the more it wants to burn There's a candle on the table to remind us how to pray When the light can't hold up to the dark the spark remains the same And the end of summer takes us by the hand The end of summer teaches us to stand Oh the days of open grace Of fleeting innocence Remembering just how simple life is The days are getting shorter and the night air's coming colder And the season that we thought would last a year has come to fall The chill that's on the window will be here by tomorrow And tomorrow will invite us to decide to understand That the end of summer comes to turn to dust The end of summer teaches us to love The change of seasons is good for me, but I resist it to no end. I got all introspective tonight and came possibly the closest I've ever felt to baring it out in one sitting.