[Verse] You polish your pain like a trophy Hold it up high in the light Call every scar an achievement Every surrender a fight You whisper, “I suffer, therefore I matter” As if that were proof you exist You cradle your grievances nightly And label resentment a gift You say that the world never wanted you That cruelty carved you this way But I’ve seen the doors you were offered You simply preferred to stay [Chorus] Sanctify the wound, if it keeps you warm Build your throne from a hospital bed Crown yourself king of the ruined and torn Recite every word you once said Sanctify the wound, make it holy and pure Let it glitter and never be healed But don’t ask me to kneel at the altar Of a cross that you secretly wield [Verse] You measure affection in penance Demanding a debt to be paid If love doesn’t kneel in submission You call it betrayal and fade You hunger for public forgiveness But sharpen your knives in private You want to be tragically blameless Yet engineer every riot You say that your heart is a battlefield Where villains have always prevailed But you plant the mines in the darkness Then weep when the rescue has failed [Chorus] Sanctify the wound, if it feeds your pride Let the blood be your favorite hue Say you were broken by forces outside When the fracture was fashioned by you Sanctify the wound, keep it polished and bright Let it shine like a halo of blame But don’t look to me for redemption When you’re married to misery’s name [Final Chorus] So sanctify the wound, go on, insist Let it define who you are Trace every line of your bitterness Like constellations in scar Sanctify the wound, make it sacred and sealed Let no mercy intrude But don’t say you wanted salvation When you nurtured the feud
