[Intro] (Gritty guitar riff, drums building)
Jasmine steam like lanterns in the dark,
A chipped porcelain teacup warmed between my hands.
He waits by a low fire, crooked smile and calm —
Uncle Iroh hums a line that feels like home.
[Verse 1] (Guitar: tight palm-muted rhythm)
I cross the threshold where the map of night folds thin,
Footprints of old choices fade beneath the wind.
His slow exhale breathes the room to life again,
Steam draws the shape of all the things I’ve kept within.
[Pre-Chorus] (Lean, building drums)
Night presses hard, my chest a closed door,
He sets the cup down, asks, "What do you ache for?"
Words hang like lanterns—too heavy, too raw,
He lifts the lid of silence, shows me how to thaw.
[Chorus] (Open power-chords; big vocal)
Tea with Iroh, moonlight and truth.
Tea with Iroh, a quiet proof.
Sip the years I buried under my shoes—
Tea with Iroh, I feel less bruised.
[Verse 2] (Guitar riff returns, slightly louder)
I hand him a letter I never dared to send,
The ink a confession of a mercy I could not mend.
He nods, gentle and steady, like an old friend’s hand,
Tells tales of patience like a map to understand.
[Pre-Chorus] (Tighter cadence)
My knot of blame unwinds with every breath he takes,
The night leans in to listen as an ember wakes.
A crooked smile, a cup—three simple stakes,
He steadies me with stories, not with promises he makes.
[Chorus] (Power-chords, harmonized backing)
Tea with Iroh, moonlight and truth.
Tea with Iroh, a quiet proof.
Pour me the shape of how to move through my youth—
Tea with Iroh, I feel less bruised.
[Bridge] (Quiet, finger-picked; vocals close-mic)
(soft) He hums an old song—jasmine drifting slow,
(soft) "You carry a weight that only hands can know."
(soft) I confess a name that wakes behind my ribs,
(soft) He folds it like tea leaves, says, "Forgiveness begins."
(Instrumental build: finger-picked shifts to shimmering arpeggio, then a single clean guitar ripples into distortion)
[Bridge 2] (Big return, drums crash back)
(Shout) He laughs like thunder in a summer storm,
(Shout) "The world can bite and bruise, but love keeps you warm."
(Shout) The kettle rings a bell, the fire finds the floor—
(Shout) I stand a fraction taller than I stood before.
[Final Chorus] (Full band, highest energy; alternate lyric payoff)
Tea with Iroh, moonlight and truth.
Tea with Iroh, a quiet proof.
He hands me the map to walking back to youth—
Tea with Iroh, I leave lighter than I came to you.
[Outro] (Drop to one clean guitar, soft cymbal taps)
Chipped porcelain cools beneath my thumb,
His crooked smile lingers; the humming hums.
Jasmine fades but the lesson stays —
Tea with Iroh, and I carry the day.
(End on a single sustained guitar note; let it ring out like a long exhale.)
