Give Me Strength

[Verse 1]
Coffee’s cold on the counter
Your pills lined up like tiny graves
You ask my name again
Like it’s slipping off the page
Same three stories at sunrise
Same six questions by noon
I bite my tongue till it’s bleeding
Staring at cartoons
[Pre-Chorus]
I swore I’d be the steady one
But my hands won’t stop their shake
Breathing through my teeth
Trying not to break
[Chorus]
Give me strength
’Cause I’m running on fumes and fear
Give me strength
Not to scream when you can’t hear
I’m so tired of being “fine”
Of swallowing the fight inside
Give me strength
To stay when I just want to drive
[Verse 2]
You call me “Dad” then “stranger”
I laugh it off
Say “sure”
But every wrong-name bullet
Finds a softer core
Bathroom floor at midnight
I’m praying to the tiles
“Let me love who you are now
Not who you were in those old files”
[Pre-Chorus]
The promise that I signed my life on
Feels heavier each day
I’m counting to a thousand
So I don’t walk away
[Chorus]
Give me strength
’Cause I’m running on fumes and fear
Give me strength
Not to scream when you can’t hear
I’m so tired of being “fine”
Of swallowing the fight inside
Give me strength
To stay when I just want to drive
[Bridge]
I hate the thought I’m thinking
That I liked you better then (oh God)
But guilt’s a rusted anchor
Dragging where I’ve been
If patience is a muscle
Mine is torn and sore
Still I tuck you into bed
Lock another door
[Chorus]
Give me strength
’Cause I’m running on fumes and fear
Give me strength
When I’m choking on my tears
I’m so tired of being “fine”
Of burying the rage inside
Give me strength
To stay when I just want to hide
Give me strength
’Cause I’m all out of mine

rock, Gritty early-2000s alt-grunge: overdriven guitars, roomy live drums, male vocals with a cracked edge. Verse 1 sits in a simmering mid-tempo groove, bass close and tense; pre-chorus climbs with octave guitars and ride cymbal. Chorus explodes with wide power chords, double-tracked vocals, and shouted gang responses. Bridge drops to half-time with a ghostly clean guitar line before the final chorus hits harder, feedback tailing off., grunge