I Stayed

[Verse 1 — concession] I bent, but I didn’t break Gave up the version where I win Traded my pride for what remains Let you back in I learned to lose and call it grace Learned to hold you without holding on too tight [Chorus] I stayed Not because it was easy — Because it was true I stayed Through every version of you And every version of me too [Verse 2 — absolution] I forgave what I couldn’t forget Carried it quiet, carried it long Some debts are paid without a word Some love just holds on I buried the wound, not the truth of it And built a house on top of what was wrong [Chorus] I stayed Not because it was easy — Because it was true I stayed Through every version of you And every version of me too [Bridge — baroque, drone, montée] Love isn’t the storm It’s what’s left standing after Love is the vow repeated When the vow gets hard to keep I gave more than I kept I’d give it again, and again, and again This is not surrender — This is the will to remain [Final Chorus — dépouillé puis ample] I stayed Not because it was easy I stayed Because it was true