[Verse] I learned early how to make myself smaller How to read a room and swallow tears Mama said some wounds don’t speak in thunder Some just echo through the years There were school plays, scraped knees, cold winters Pictures you were never standing in I kept searching every crowded doorway Half believing you might walk in [Pre-Chorus] And nobody tells a child How to grieve somebody still alive [Chorus] And I keep wondering how a father sleeps Knowing his child survived him alive Birthday candles, broken pieces Learning how to dry my own eyes Did it ever haunt you in the silence? Did my laughter ever cross your mind? ‘Cause I was out here becoming somebody Without you standing by [Verse 2] Another man helped me learn the hard things How to drive and how to trust And I hated that I needed strangers To teach me I was worth enough People say forgiveness is a river But some rivers freeze inside And I’m still thawing from the winter Of a love that never tried [Bridge] Maybe you were scared Maybe you were weak Maybe leaving me behind Helped you sleep But I was never something disposable Never some mistake to hide I was a little girl with your eyes Trying to figure out why [Final Chorus] And I keep wondering how a father sleeps Knowing his child survived him alive Birthday candles, broken pieces Learning how to dry my own eyes Did it ever haunt you in the silence? Did my laughter ever cross your mind? ‘Cause I was out here becoming somebody Without you standing by And despite the empty spaces Despite the nights I cried I became somebody beautiful Without you standing by
