Our Bright Strange Year

[Verse 1]
At breakfast, owls cross the rafters
With letters tied in blue and gold
A first-year hides a shaking hand
While older stories fill the hall
The stairways turn beneath our feet
Portraits gossip by the fire
We learn the names of ancient things
And dare to climb a little higher

[Pre-Chorus]
When the lanterns dim, you take my sleeve
We laugh at every spell we can't believe

[Chorus]
Meet me where the four winds gather
Under towers built to touch the weather
Every door can open wide
If you bring your wonder inside
Through the trials, through the thunder
We'll make a home from one another
Raise your wand and say it clear
This is our year, our bright strange year

[Verse 2]
Greenhouse glass is warm with rain
Mandrakes sing beneath the soil
A silver moon on Black Lake water
Turns our homework into toil
In the library, past closing time
We trade our secrets line by line
A friend who stays when courage thins
Can make a hero out of anyone

[Pre-Chorus]
When the hallway fills with doubt and fear
You say my name, and suddenly I'm here

[Chorus]
Meet me where the four winds gather
Under towers built to touch the weather
Every door can open wide
If you bring your wonder inside
Through the trials, through the thunder
We'll make a home from one another
Raise your wand and say it clear
This is our year, our bright strange year

[Bridge]
If the dark comes walking up the hill
If the highest tower loses all its light
We'll stand together, breathing still
And turn a borrowed spark into a sky of white
No prophecy can choose the shape we take
No ancient stone decides the hearts we make

[Final Chorus]
Meet me where the four winds gather
Under towers built to touch the weather
Every door can open wide
If you bring your wonder inside
Through the trials, through the thunder
We'll make a home from one another
Raise your wand and say it clear
This is our year, our bright strange year

[Outro]
When the last train leaves the northern line
We'll carry this impossible place in mind
And somewhere far beyond the fear
We'll hear those bells and find our year

cinematic orchestral pop-rock, adventurous fantasy school atmosphere, soaring strings and French horns, energetic live drums, piano-led verses, electric guitar lift in choruses, mixed youth choir, intimate lead vocal opening into an anthemic refrain, dynamic arrangement from candlelit mystery to triumphant finale, polished wide soundtrack mix