**Verse 1** I thought love came with instructions Like somehow I would always know Which door to close before the danger Which way to turn before the blow I thought mothers heard the warning Before anybody else could hear Like something ancient in our bones Would tell us when the storm was near So every time I missed a signal Every time I learned too late I wrote another accusation And signed my name beneath the page Because surely if I loved you As fiercely as I know I do There should have been some way To stop the world from reaching you **Pre-Chorus** I know that sounds impossible But guilt never cared what’s fair It just keeps asking one question— *Why weren’t you there?* **Chorus** I was supposed to save you That’s the promise in my head Catch every falling piece Before it ever hit the edge I was supposed to know Every danger, every sign Stand between you and the world Every single time I was supposed to save you That’s the weight I never lose Because when something hurts my children My heart still calls it something I should choose To stop To fix To carry To undo I was supposed to save you So what am I supposed to do When love was never strong enough To stop what happened to you? **Verse 2** Five hearts changed in one day And I still count them in my sleep Three went where I couldn’t reach them Two stayed close enough to keep And I tried to be enough for all five Even split across the pain Tried to hold the ones beside me While calling for the others’ names And maybe no one could have done it Maybe there was too much fire But I still hate the helpless feeling More than anger, more than tired Because loving you made one thing certain— I would have carried every scar If taking all the hurt myself Could have kept it from where you are **Pre-Chorus** I know mothers aren’t immortal I know love can’t stop the world But tell that to the part of me That still sees every boy and girl **Chorus** I was supposed to save you That’s the promise in my head Catch every falling piece Before it ever hit the edge I was supposed to know Every danger, every sign Stand between you and the world Every single time I was supposed to save you That’s the weight I never lose Because when something hurts my children My heart still calls it something I should choose To stop To fix To carry To undo I was supposed to save you So what am I supposed to do When love was never strong enough To stop what happened to you? **Bridge** Maybe saving doesn’t always mean Nothing bad can ever come Maybe sometimes saving looks like Being there when damage is already done Maybe it’s answering the phone Maybe it’s remembering every name Maybe it’s keeping two hearts safe While three are living somewhere else in pain Maybe it’s refusing to forget Maybe it’s loving through the distance Maybe it’s building something gentle After everything went different Maybe saving isn’t stopping Every wound before it starts Maybe sometimes saving Is keeping love alive inside five hearts But God, that feels too small When I wanted to give you more I wanted to be the wall Nothing could ever get through **Breakdown** I would have stood there. I would have taken it. I would have traded places. I would have chosen you. Every time. Every one of you. **Final Chorus** I was supposed to save you At least that’s what I believed Like being your mother meant No pain should ever reach you through me But maybe I was never meant To control the whole damn sky Maybe loving you this fiercely Was never proof I should know why I was supposed to save you And maybe part of me still will Not by changing what already happened Not by pretending nothing did But by loving all five forward By remembering who you are By refusing to let what happened Become the only story in our hearts I couldn’t stop it all I couldn’t undo that day But I never stopped loving you Not once Not one of you Not in any way **Outro** I thought saving meant Nothing could touch you. Maybe saving means I keep loving you After it did.
