**Verse 1** I know how to forgive the tired How to understand the scared How to make excuses for the hurting How to say, *They did what they could there* I know how to hold somebody gently When they’re ashamed of what they’ve done How to tell them one bad moment Doesn’t erase every good one But when the name inside the story Is mine instead of theirs Every kindness disappears Every wound becomes a prayer For punishment For consequence For something I should pay Like mercy was made for everyone Except me anyway **Pre-Chorus** I’ve handed grace out freely Like I had an endless sea Maybe before I give the last drop away I should leave some mercy for me **Chorus** Leave some mercy for me Just a little at the end After all the understanding I keep giving everyone else instead Leave some mercy for me For the mother who was scared For the woman who kept trying Even when nobody called it fair I don’t need to erase the past I don’t need to call it clean I just need to stop believing Pain is all I deserve to keep So if there’s mercy anywhere If there’s any left to be Before I give it all away Leave some mercy for me **Verse 2** I’ve forgiven people in my head Who never asked me to Found reasons for the choices That still cut straight through I’ve said, *Maybe they were hurting* *Maybe they were scared too* Then turned around and called myself Unforgivable for less than what they’d do I know every flaw I carried Every place I lost my way Every time I wish I’d answered With a different thing to say But I also know the mornings I kept getting up somehow The five hearts I kept loving The future I kept building anyhow **Pre-Chorus** If I can see the human In everyone who hurt me Maybe I can finally see There was a human inside me **Chorus** Leave some mercy for me Just a little at the end After all the understanding I keep giving everyone else instead Leave some mercy for me For the mother who was scared For the woman who kept trying Even when nobody called it fair I don’t need to erase the past I don’t need to call it clean I just need to stop believing Pain is all I deserve to keep So if there’s mercy anywhere If there’s any left to be Before I give it all away Leave some mercy for me **Bridge** I can own what was mine Without owning every fire I can grieve what I lost Without calling grief a liar I can say I made mistakes Without making myself one I can stand beneath the daylight Without apologizing to the sun And maybe mercy isn’t weakness Maybe mercy tells the truth That I was hurting and still loving That I was scared and still came through That I was never perfect But I never had to be To deserve one fraction Of the grace I give so easily **Breakdown** Not absolution. Not forgetting. Not pretending. Just mercy. Enough to stop Punishing myself For surviving. **Final Chorus** Leave some mercy for me I think I finally understand I was asking broken pieces To become whole inside my hands Leave some mercy for me For the woman in the smoke Who kept loving five hearts forward Even while her own heart broke I don’t have to hate myself To prove that I still care I don’t have to wear the ashes To remember what was there And maybe healing starts this small Not with freedom, not with peace Just choosing not to give away Every ounce of mercy in me So tonight I’ll keep a little For me **Outro** I forgive slowly. I heal slowly. I believe slowly. But tonight I won’t spend Every drop of grace On everybody else.
