If I dont say it out loud | The Long Way Home | Track 13-14 | 1970

If I don’t say it out loud Then maybe it can’t fall apart If I don’t give it a name Maybe it won’t break my heart ’Cause every truth I’ve spoken Has found a way to drown me out So I keep the words inside me If I don’t say it out loud You’re sitting by the window With that patient, quiet smile Like you’ve given me the roadway To be honest for a while But I’ve always learned to manage What I feel by shutting doors ’Cause every time I trusted Someone left it on the floor And I know you’re only asking For the part of me that’s real But it’s hard to hand you something That I barely know how to feel If I don’t say it out loud Then maybe it can’t come undone Maybe love keeps breathing softly If I never touch the sun Yeah the truth can turn too heavy And I’m scared to let it out So I keep the storm inside me If I don’t say it out loud I’ve seen the way a sentence Can split a quiet room How a single honest moment Can turn love into a wound So I live inside the safety Of the words I never share And you keep reaching for the places I pretend are never there But I see the way you’re waiting And I hate the time I waste ’Cause every silent answer Draws another line you trace If I don’t say it out loud Then maybe I won’t lose the thread Maybe love stays gentle, steady If I never risk what’s said But the more I keep it buried The more I push you out And I’m starting now to wonder What I’m really hiding from… Maybe love was never meant To live behind a guard Maybe saying what we feel Is only scary ’cause it’s hard If I don’t say it out loud Then I know I’ll watch you fade So I’m trying now to trust What fragile truth is made If it shakes the ground beneath me I’ll still try to let it out ’Cause I don’t want to lose you To the things I never said… out loud