They Said It Would Be Enough 3

Verse 1

I did exactly what you told me to do, every step laid out plain and simple,

waking before the sun, swallowing the day before it could argue back,

keeping my mouth shut, showing up sick, sore, and already tired,

because you said that’s what responsibility looks like from where you stand,

and year by year I gave you my back, my knees, my time, my patience,

trusting that when I was finally done, there would be something left for me.

Chorus

You say nobody owes me anything after I’ve paid into everything my whole life,

you say that’s just how the world works, like weather or gravity,

as if nobody signed the laws or benefited from where it lands,

and it always lands hardest

on the people who can’t afford to fall.

it always lands hardest

on the people who can’t afford to faaall.

⸻

Verse 2

You took money out of every check before I ever learned how to miss it,

called it protection, planning, a future I was supposed to feel safe about,

told me not to worry, told me it would all make sense later on,

but the price of everything kept rising while my pay stayed exactly where it was,

and when I reached the age you told me to wait for,

all that was waiting was paperwork and excuses.

⸻

Chorus

You said work hard and be patient and everything would balance out in the end,

but the end kept moving while the bills showed up right on time,

and now rest has a cost I can’t afford

and you keep asking why I didn’t plan better

for rules you kept rewriting.

rules you kept rewriting.

Verse 3

Don’t talk to me about discipline when my whole life has been run by clocks,

don’t lecture me about sacrifice when I traded evenings, weekends, and years,

you explain the system from clean rooms with microphones and applause,

while I explain my pain to doctors, managers, and forms that don’t listen,

and somehow we’re both speaking the same language,

but only one of us gets believed.

only one of us

only one oooof uuuussss

Chorus

You say nobody owes me anything after I’ve paid into everything my whole life,

you say that’s just how the world works, like weather or gravity,

as if nobody signed the laws or benefited from where it lands,

and it always lands hardest

on the people who can’t afford to fall.

it always lands hardest

on the people who can’t afford to faaall.

Outro – acoustic guitar + stand-up bass + sax

I’m not lazy, I’m not confused, and I’m not asking for charity,

I’m asking why a lifetime of doing exactly what I was told

ends with me still clocking in, still hurting, still explaining myself,

while the sax cries low behind me

and you tell me

this is the best we can do.

people who can’t afford to fall.

people who can’t afford to faaaall.