WATCHING US BACK [Verse 1] There was a glow down the hallway Long before the world was wide Saturday mornings in pajamas With the whole world flickering inside We met dragons before debt collectors Met witches before we knew lies Learned that good and evil wrestled Somewhere beneath ordinary skies We saw deserts, storms, and oceans Places we'd never set foot in And every week another doorway Opened up and pulled us in [Pre-Chorus] The screen sat silent in the corner But it never stopped talking [Chorus] We thought we were watching television Safe and settled on the couch But every story left a fingerprint Long before we figured out The monsters taught us how to face them The heroes taught us who to trust The light kept glowing in the living room And somehow it was watching us [Verse 2] We borrowed pieces of adulthood From characters we'd never meet Learned about first kisses and heartbreak From people living on our screens We watched families fall apart And somehow find their way again Learned that grown-ups weren't invincible And children carried worlds within We climbed mountains from recliners Walked strange cities after dark Learned to cook and fix and survive things Stored away somewhere in our hearts [Pre-Chorus] The screen sat silent in the corner But it never stopped talking [Chorus] We thought we were watching television Safe and settled on the couch But every story left a fingerprint Long before we figured out The monsters taught us how to face them The heroes taught us who to trust The light kept glowing in the living room And somehow it was watching us [Bridge] The commercials sold us futures Told us what success should be What was beautiful and worthy What we lacked and what we need Sometimes they sold impossible dreams Sometimes hope was all they gave Sometimes all we really needed Was a little light at the end of the day And when the house felt far too quiet Or loneliness came wandering through A familiar voice from somewhere else Would sit and keep us company too [Final Chorus] We thought we were watching television Learning stories one by one But it helped us practice being human Long before our lives had begun It showed us fears we'd never face And places we may never see Gave us pieces of each other And possibilities The light kept glowing in the living room Through every version we passed through We thought we were watching television But somehow We became the stories too [Outro] Still glowing in the corner Still whispering after all these years A window and a mirror Showing us the world And ourselves
