[Verse 1] My father never told me he was proud, I spent my younger years just trying to hear it. He had a way of bringing the whole house down, then carrying on like nothing had happened. I learned to take care of myself too young, learned not to ask for more than I was given. They say a boy becomes his father's son, I've spent my whole damn life trying to be different. [Pre-Chorus] Sometimes I hear him when I raise my voice, see his reflection staring back at me. I never thought I'd have to make a choice between the man I am and what his actions taught me to be. [Chorus] I spent half my life trying not to be you, the other half pretending I was fine. I've learned to love in ways you never knew, but I still hear your anger in mine. I know how to stay when things get hard, but I don't know how to let somebody stay. I've spent my whole life getting out of that house, living with what I've yet to leave behind. [Verse 2] I swore I'd never turn out like you, never leave somebody wondering where they stand. But I've said things I wish I could undo, felt your temper rising in my hands. I've learned that saying sorry means more than waiting for the hurt to fade. You taught me silence ends an argument, I've learned it just leaves the damage where it's laid. [Pre-Chorus 2] I used to think that I was bound to make the same mistakes you made. But I can put that burden down, and leave the past where it was laid. [Chorus] I spent half my life trying not to be you, the other half pretending I was fine. I've learned to love in ways you never knew, but I still hear your anger in mine. I know how to stay when things get hard, but I don't know how to let somebody stay. I've spent my whole life getting out of that house, living with what I've yet to leave behind. [Bridge] I watched them carry what was left of you, with a thousand things I never got to say. They told me time would help me make it through, but death doesn't make the damage go away. I thought I'd find some peace in letting go, thought the anger might turn to something new. But there's a kind of grief nobody knows when you mourn the dad you had and the one you never knew. [Final Chorus] I spent half my life trying not to be you, the other half pretending I was fine. I've learned to love in ways you never knew, and I don't have to carry all that's mine. I know how to stay when things get hard, I'm learning how to let somebody stay. I've spent my whole life getting out of that house, and I won't let what happened there decide my fate.
