# Track 4 – *Took the Blame* **Theme:** Betrayal, sacrifice, imprisonment, awakening **Tempo:** Slow, heavy, defiant — sparse verses building into a powerful final chorus ### [Verse 1] He ran like smoke when the riders came Left me standing there to carry the blame Sheriff's men with their rifles drawn He was already miles and miles beyond They asked me his name, I said nothing at all Asked who fired first, I said, “I recall” “I did what I did, so lock me away He had no part in the price I'll pay” They dragged me down through an iron door Stone on stone, and a heavy floor Said, “You'll rot here, girl, beneath this hell” But I'd lived in worse than a prison cell ### [Pre-Chorus] Because hell wasn't stone Hell wasn't the rain Hell was believing I needed his name ### [Chorus] I took the blame and I took the chains Learned the truth in the prison rains A man can promise you heaven and gold Then leave you behind when the night turns cold I gave him my heart, I gave him my trust Watched every promise crumble to dust Never again, never once more I'll never bow down like I did before I answer to no one I answer to me The woman I was Is the woman I free ### [Verse 2] Six long months with the walls closing in Six months listening to my own skin No horse beneath me, no road in sight Just four stone walls and a candle at night And I thought of the girl by the silver creek The frightened young woman who'd been too weak To know that love doesn't mean you're owned And being alone doesn't mean you're thrown I thought of the cage and the pine trees tall The father, the preacher, the wooden walls I'd traded one master for another man's hand And called it freedom because I didn't understand ### [Pre-Chorus] But the woman who entered Wasn't the same As the woman who'd walked Into that prison in chains ### [Chorus] I took the blame and I took the chains Learned the truth in the prison rains A man can promise you heaven and gold Then leave you behind when the night turns cold I gave him my heart, I gave him my trust Watched every promise crumble to dust Never again, never once more I'll never bow down like I did before I answer to no one I answer to me The woman I was Is the woman I free ### [Bridge – Quiet → Building] Then the rain came hard And the river rose Thunder shook the valley Water through the stones The guard ran shouting The old walls cracked The door swung open And I didn't look back No stolen horse No lover's hand No man beside me To tell me where to stand I stepped through the doorway Into the pouring rain And for the first time in my life I belonged to my own name ### [Final Chorus – Full Power] I took the blame but I broke the chains Walked through the storm and I won't be tamed Let the whole world hear what I have become I don't need a king, I don't need anyone I gave him my heart but I found my soul I lost what I loved but I took back control Never again, never once more I'll never kneel down like I did before No crown on my head No master, no throne No man's possession I'm finally my own ### [Outro – Slow] Took the chains… Broke them free… Left his name In the rain behind me… No king… No master… No one owns me… The only woman I belong to… **Is me.**
