[INTRO — SPOKEN, OVER LONE PIANO] Eleven-forty. Church basement. Tuesday night. Coffee gone cold. One flickering light. Lord, I've blamed everybody for the shape I'm in. But tonight, I'm tired of defending my sins. [VERSE 1 — LOW, GRITTY] Pink paper crown on the passenger seat, "Daddy, come watch me dance," in a hand-drawn heart beneath. I text, "I'll be there, girl. Wouldn't miss a thing," Then drown her little voice in the telephone ring. There's a crack in the mirror, a bottle by the bed, A thousand perfect excuses running circles in my head. I blame my boss, my past, the wife who walked away, Then kneel beside my bed and ask the Lord to make me okay. [CHORUS — GENTLE GOSPEL LIFT] Give me the painful truth. Don't make it pretty. I've swallowed enough lies to last me a lifetime. Let it hurt. Let it burn. Let it show me what I never learned. A beautiful lie might comfort you… But freedom… Freedom needs the truth. [GOSPEL RESPONSE] Tell it true… Tell it true… [VERSE 2 — BAND ENTERS, STEADY SOUTHERN GROOVE] Mama's Bible on the table, my old suit on the chair, Sunday, I could sing of grace; Monday, I wasn't there. I preached about the lost sheep, then wandered from the fold, Sang louder than my conscience so nobody heard my soul. My brother found me face-down, glass glittering on the floor, Held up a childhood picture I'd forgotten long before. Two barefoot boys, one promise, beneath a summer sky: "I'll always stand beside you." He looked at me and cried. [BREAKDOWN — PIANO AND VOICE] "Brother, I don't need saving. I just want you back." I looked into that picture and saw what I had cracked. [BRIDGE — BUILD FROM A WHISPER] I dropped down at the altar: "Lord, take this thirst away! Take the bottle, take the burden, make me clean today!" No thunder shook the rafters. No angel split the night. Just one question in the silence I couldn't outrun or fight: "Will you quit blaming others? Will you lay your pride aside? Will you love the ones you've wounded more than you love your alibi?" I came begging for a miracle, for freedom from the drink… Then God held up the mirror. I saw the man beneath. I wasn't just hooked on the bottle, I was hooked on being right— On polishing my halo while I wrecked my own life. [FINAL CHORUS — FULL GOSPEL CHOIR] Give me the painful truth! [CHOIR] Don't make it pretty! I've swallowed enough lies to last me a lifetime. Let it hurt! [CHOIR] Let it burn! Let it show me what I never learned. A beautiful lie might comfort you… But freedom— [FULL CHOIR] FREEDOM NEEDS THE TRUTH! [CALL AND RESPONSE — BRIEF, DRIVING] [LEAD] Who'll face the man in the mirror? [CHOIR] Tell it true! [LEAD] Who'll walk through the wreckage? [CHOIR] Tell it true! [OUTRO — SOLO VOICE, PIANO ONLY] Saturday morning. My little girl's door. I held up her crown from the week before. "Are you coming next time?" She looked in my eyes. "No more pretty promises, sweetheart. No more pretty lies." She opened the door. Lord, help me walk through. [SOFT] Tell it true… Lord, help me tell it true.
