“Help Me Help U Understand U” AI Voice Tony Sanchez Written by 12Gauge858 Letter 2 my Ex (Never Again) [Intro — close-mic spoken, warm Rhodes, soft room tone, smooth guitar barely answering] Mmm… There it is… You doing that thing again… looking past me like the wall got an answer I don’t. Phone face down… knees turned away from mine… thumb rubbing that same little spot on your wrist. Don’t hide that from me… You said you was looking for love. I heard you. I believed you. But love walked in quiet… took its shoes off at the door… learned your breathing… and somehow that made you run. Help me help u understand u. [Verse 1] You told me love never stayed long enough to learn your mornings So I learned the sound of your kettle before your feet touched the floor I knew which blanket you reached for when your chest got heavy Knew when your laugh came late it meant your heart was keeping score I didn’t love you loud I loved you accurate Moved the glass from your side of the bed before you knocked it in the dark I stopped asking “what’s wrong” when your eyes begged me not to Just sat close enough for silence to not feel like harm And I ain’t saying I was flawless I’m saying I was there Hands clean, voice low trying not to scare your scared But you kept looking at steady like steady came to take something Like peace had a price on it and I was hiding the bill somewhere [Pre-Chorus — soft falsetto lifts] I felt that… The way you pulled back when I remembered what you needed The way you called it pressure when I was only being consistent You asked heaven for a soft place then fought the pillow You said you wanted real love then got nervous when it wasn’t little [Chorus — emotional, smooth, long sustained falsetto notes, Rhodes swelling, 808 pulsing low] Help me help u understand uuuuu You said you been looking for loooooove Then love found u and u started backing uuuuup Why we go the whole ten for loooooove Cry for it, pray for it Sleep alone and wait for loooooove But won’t fight to maintain loooooove Help me help u understand uuuuu Did safe feel too unfamiliar? Did my hands feel too gentle for a heart used to splinteeeers? You said you wanted loooooove I brought it without pretending Now I’m standing in the room where your leaving keeps echoooooing Help me help u understand uuuuu [Post-Chorus — breathy ad-libs] There it is… that quiet part… You don’t have to say it loud… I felt that… [Verse 2] You didn’t slam no door That would’ve been too easy You left me by inches then acted like I lost you suddenly Less eye contact in the kitchen less weight in your “goodnight” Less “tell me when you get home” more blue checks turning white You started making arguments out of things we used to laugh through Like the spoon in the sink was really every man before me hurting you I watched you test my patience like it owed you proof Moved the finish line daily then blamed me for looking confused And I wanted to ask you who taught you love gotta bruise Who made calm feel suspicious Who made kindness feel like news ’Cause I wasn’t reaching for a chain I was reaching for your hand But you kept mistaking commitment for somebody making demands [Pre-Chorus 2 — tighter, more wounded] Stay right there… Not where you ran to Not where fear dressed you up Right there… where you almost trusted us ’Cause I saw the real you before the armor got dressed And I swear she wanted love She just ain’t know how to rest [Chorus — fuller beat, 808 deeper, guitar answers every line] Help me help u understand uuuuu You said you been looking for loooooove Then love found u and u started backing uuuuup Why we go the whole ten for loooooove Cry for it, pray for it Sleep alone and wait for loooooove But won’t fight to maintain loooooove Help me help u understand uuuuu Did safe feel too unfamiliar? Did my hands feel too gentle for a heart used to splinteeeers? You said you wanted loooooove I brought it without pretending Now I’m standing in the room where your leaving keeps echoooooing Help me help u understand uuuuu [Bridge — stripped Rhodes, no drums, close-mic, Tony finally lets the hurt show] So u mean to tell me… All them walks through the park when your hand kept finding mine The way you’d laugh with your head back like the world finally gave us time All them nights I sat quiet just so your pain could have a place Didn’t rush you, didn’t fix you just let tears fall down your face Twenty-three years of learning how your silence changed its sound Twenty-three years of catching pieces before they ever hit the ground My soul was broken in rooms you stopped coming home to Started trucking ’cause an empty home away from home felt easier than our home do Diesel humming under my chest white lines keeping me from folding Sleeper cab colder than your side of the bed but at least it didn’t act like it didn’t know me And one day you wake up different look at me like I’m the weight Like loving you too carefully made me something you can’t take So I’m not enough now ’cause
