[Spoken Intro - Australian female voice, matter-of-fact] I was eighteen when I got married. Thought I was getting out. Thought a husband, a home and a family would mean things would be different. Funny thing about life... sometimes you walk straight out of one mess and land yourself in another. [Verse 1] Eighteen years old, a ring on my hand, A head full of dreams I didn't understand. I wanted a home, somewhere safe to belong, Thought I'd found my place in the world all along. I knew about fear. I'd had plenty of that. I wanted a life that was nothing like that. I believed in the vows, believed in the plan, Didn't know what I was getting into with this man. [Verse 2] The jealousy started, the pressure came on, Everything his way, and my say-so was gone. Possessive, controlling, always needing his own way, I learned to watch his moods and what I dared to say. There'd be drinking, going out, trying to have a night, Then getting back home and wondering what came next that night. The belting, the fear, the damage done, And somehow the next morning, the day still had to come. [Chorus - blunt, steady, no belting] I married to get away, Thought I'd found a better day. But the same old hurt came through the door, And I was living what I'd lived before. I believed in marriage. I believed in family. For better or worse... That's what it meant to me. I kept hanging on, kept trying to stay, But you can't make a marriage work that way. [Verse 3] Three kids came along, three lives to raise, I wanted them to have better, happier days. I wanted a family, a home that was sound, Something that wouldn't come crashing down. So I stayed and I tried, did what I thought right, Kept hoping tomorrow might be better than tonight. And while I was trying to hold our family together, There were hurts and betrayals that made things harder. The trust wore thin, and the hurt ran deep, So many things I couldn't fix or keep. I was trying to save what we'd built together, But I couldn't hold it up forever. [Verse 4 — weary, slightly rhythmic] Then he'd come back, like nothing had been, Play at being a family, move himself back in. For a little while, we'd play house again, And I'd wonder if this time things might be different. Then off he'd go, leaving us behind, Me and the kids, picking up the pieces every time. Seventeen times... that's my last count, Seventeen times of the same old round. Back again, gone again. Hope again, hurt again. You lose count of the promises. You don't forget the pain. [Chorus] I married to get away, Thought I'd found a better day. But the same old hurt came through the door, And I was living what I'd lived before. I believed in marriage. I believed in family. For better or worse... That's what it meant to me. I kept hanging on, kept trying to stay, But you can't make a marriage work that way. [Verse 5 - stripped back, conversational] And then there was another baby coming, Our fourth child on the way. Another little life to care for, Another reason I might stay. My fourth daughter came into this world While that marriage was wearing thin. I'd carried on for years by then, Trying to hold the family in. But a baby can't mend what's broken, And love can't do it all. You can keep on patching up the pieces, But there's a point when they won't hold. [Bridge - quiet at first, growing firm] I was young when I began. Too young to understand that one person can't hold a family together while the other keeps pulling it apart. I thought a promise meant you stayed. I thought you stood by your man. I didn't understand back then that I was allowed to say, "No more. Not again." [Final Chorus - firm, lived-in, not triumphant] I married to get away. I thought I'd found a better day. I tried to save what we once had, But trying couldn't make the broken whole. I believed in marriage. I believed in family. I gave it everything I had to give. But I had a life to live. Seventeen times. I won't pretend I don't remember. Seventeen times. And I was done. [Outro - spoken, low and direct, music fading] I got the divorce. That was it. I was eighteen when I married him. I thought I was starting a new life. It took me years to understand that being a loyal wife didn't mean I had to put up with everything. I wanted a family. I wanted it to work. I tried. But in the end... I'd had enough.
