My Father’s Knife

Verse 1 My father left a kingdom With the blood still on the floor And everybody standing Slightly closer to the door There were sandals in the ashes There were whispers in the wine There were men who called me “Majesty” Who’d called him “Sir” that night Mother said, “Stand taller” Like my spine could stop a war I was old enough for murder Young enough to want one more Of anything that loved me Without needing me to shine My father left a kingdom My father left a knife Pre-Chorus And the room went still And the torches spat And the old men smiled Like they’d planned for that Chorus My father left a kingdom My father left a knife One was for the living One was for the life My father left a doorway With the whole world on the side And I walked through it bleeding Like a boy who’d learned to ride Verse 2 They put purple on my shoulders Like a bruise with better taste And they taught me which old enemies Would need to be erased There were cousins in the shadows There were brothers in the dust There were people saying “order” When they meant “do what you must” I said, “What if I don’t want it?” No one heard or no one cared The crown sat on the table Like an animal prepared Bridge You inherit more than silver You inherit who they feared You inherit every silence That the dead man disappeared You inherit all his horses You inherit all his men You inherit every room That wants the father back again Final Chorus My father left a kingdom My father left a knife One was for the living One was for the life My father left a doorway With the whole world on the side And I walked through it burning Like a boy already tried Outro My father left a kingdom My father left a knife I picked up one by accident And both became my life