Where the Fire Used to Be (v2 roots revival)

[Verse 1] [lower register, weary] I’ve accepted my last paycheck, my badge has been returned, I don't belong to them or to their scheming plots anymore. But the wires are still fraying where the lights used to burn, And I'm trapped within a lesson I was overdue to learn. I'm trying to find the manual, I'm trying to find the door, But the shame is in the walls and it's rattling the floor. [Chorus] [rising, emotional, choir swell] If I'm a loser, it's a loss of something I can't name, If I'm a burden, it's a burden of a quiet shame. I'm not useless, I'm just empty where the fire used to be, Can you see the person drowning while you're shouting at the sea? [Verse 2] [strained, heavy] You give me lists of things I know I really need to do, And every word of wisdom feels so honest, and so true. You tell me to make a schedule, and to rush into a change, But instead of motivation, I just feel panicked and ashamed. I'm incompetent and selfish, and a ghost of who I was, Just a good-for-nothing loser doing nothing for the cause. You don't mean to feed the labels, but they're deep within my bones, Festering in the silence when I'm left here all alone. [Chorus] [fuller harmonies, urgent] If I'm a loser, it's a loss of something I can't name, If I'm a burden, it's a burden of a quiet shame. I'm not useless, I'm just empty where the fire used to be, Can you see the person drowning while you're shouting at the sea? [Bridge] [belting, raw, climactic] I was nearly gone, I was barely there! Breathing in the trauma till I couldn't get a prayer! It's not that I won't, it's that I don't know how! I'm just learning how to live in the middle of the now! [Chorus] [soft, resolving, gospel harmonies] I'm not useless, I'm just empty where the fire used to be, Can you see the person drowning while you're shouting at the sea? I'm still here... trying to be human... trying to be me. [Outro] [whispered, fading] I'm trying... I'm trying... just let me try.