With My Eyes Open

With My Eyes Open [Verse 1] I grew up where love had no receipt, No hidden price beneath the table, We shared the bread, we shared the weight, And called it love because we were able. My father taught me, stern and proud, A heart should give before it measures, So I believed the purest things Were never bought with earthly treasures. [Pre-Chorus] I carried that old language Into a world that spoke another tongue, And gave my heart completely Like the giving could keep us young. [Chorus] But love came tied with little strings, With needs I never learned to see, A thousand quiet expectations Hiding underneath "love me." I watched my sacred definition Break apart without a sound— Now I’m learning how to love With both my feet upon the ground. [Verse 2] I thought that we were like a cell, Each living part protecting others, No lonely organ keeping all The blood and breath away from brothers. But hearts are stranger than biology, They bargain even while they’re burning, And sometimes what we call devotion Is two necessities returning. [Pre-Chorus] Maybe I was innocent, Maybe innocence was not a crime, I only brought an ancient map Into a different place and time. [Chorus] For love comes tied with little strings, With fears and needs we rarely see, And even hearts that beat together Keep a chamber with a key. I watched my sacred definition Break apart without a sound— Now I’m learning how to love With both my feet upon the ground. [Bridge] So I rose above the city Like a balloon into the blue, Watching all the human bargains, Trying to distinguish false from true. I saw kindness mixed with hunger, I saw tenderness need proof, And learned that love can still be honest Without being absolute. And maybe that’s the lesson I was far too young to know: Love may ask for nothing— But a life together does. [Final Chorus] So I won’t tear out what they planted, I won’t teach my heart to close, I’ll keep the faith my childhood gave me But learn the thorns around the rose. Let the old illusion leave me, Let a wiser mercy grow— I still believe in loving deeply... I just love with my eyes open now. [Outro] No price upon the heart... No blindness in the soul... With my eyes open now.