The Monster I Made
[instrumental intro: sparse, distant clean guitar arpeggios + faint piano] [Verse 1] I found you hiding in the basement of my heart Sixteen and shaking, swearing we'd never part Taught you how to stand up straight, how to talk without a stutter Gave you every piece of brave I had left to utter [Pre-Chorus] Late nights on the hood of my beat-up Civic You said I made you fearless, made the world less horrific [Chorus] Now look at you, baby, all polished and tall New city lights, new girl, new name on the wall You left me in the rearview, said you outgrew the small But darling, you're the monster that I built after all You're the monster I made You're the monster I made [Verse 2] I stitched up every insecurity you tried to hide Held your hand through every panic, every time you cried Whispered "you're enough" until you started to believe Then you turned around and used that strength to leave [Pre-Chorus] You learned to walk away clean, no backward glance While I'm still here counting cracks in the same damn expanse [Chorus] Now look at you, baby, all polished and tall New city lights, new girl, new name on the wall You left me in the rearview, said you outgrew the small But darling, you're the monster that I built after all You're the monster I made You're the monster I made [Bridge - starts hushed, almost spoken, piano + soft clean guitar] I should be proud, right? That's what they all say "You made him better, you showed him the way" But I'm choking on pride while you're out there shining And every time I see your face I'm reminded I gave you the teeth, I sharpened the claws Now you're tearing through the world without any pause And I'm left with the scars and the ghost of applause [Screamed, full distortion hits] YOU'RE THE MONSTER I MADE! [Final Chorus - explosive, gang vocals layered on repeats] Look at you now, untouchable, cold Took everything I taught you and left me out in the cold You wear my courage like a second skin While I'm still bleeding where you crawled back in You're the monster I made (You're the monster I made) You're the monster I made (You're the monster I made) [Fade Out]
