[Verse 1] He came home with that same old face Same church shirt, same coffee stain But I saw a little blue shoe Behind the coat rack by the back door frame She had curls like a paper doll Four years old and staring at me He said, "Don't tell your mother now I'm trying to keep this family clean" [Pre-Chorus] "Just for now," he said "Just for the house" "Just for your brother Don't make it loud" He put that truth In a drawer with chains And I was a child But I took the blame [Chorus] Keep it quiet, keep it quiet Under the table, under my tongue Keep it quiet, keep it quiet For three long years, I was the one He said, "I'm saving us" But I was the only one Keep it quiet, keep it quiet And it broke me young [Verse 2] She called me "big brother" in the hall With a crayon moon on a lined-up page I bought her juice in the corner store While he played saint on the Sunday stage Mom would ask why I looked so pale Why I flinched when he said my name I learned to smile with a locked-up jaw And swallow the smoke of his holy claim [Pre-Chorus] "Protect the family" Was his excuse But every lie Was a second bruise Three years gone Like a missing tooth And I held that door With a child’s thin truth [Chorus] Keep it quiet, keep it quiet Under the table, under my tongue Keep it quiet, keep it quiet For three long years, I was the one He said, "I'm saving us" But I was the only one Keep it quiet, keep it quiet And it broke me young [Bridge] Then one night she asked me why Her daddy never kissed her goodbye I saw the truth in her tiny hands And I couldn't save what he lied to hide So I opened the closet Let it all fall out His careful little kingdom Turned to dust and doubt [Final Chorus] Keep it quiet, keep it quiet I can't carry what he made me hold Keep it quiet, keep it quiet I was a child and I felt old He said, "I'm saving us" But he sold my soul Keep it quiet, keep it quiet Now the house knows it all
