[Verse 1]
Your school shoes by the doorway
Crayon marks on every wall
I still hear tiny voices
Down this hallway
Down the hall
Now you answer in a whisper
Or not at all when I call your names
Someone drew a line between us
And told you both that I’m to blame
[Chorus]
But I loved you first
Before the world could touch your faces
Held you closer than my breath
Know every freckle
Every phase
If they’ve turned your hearts against me
If you never come back home
I will love you from a distance
More than you will ever know
[Verse 2]
They said I was the monster
They fed you stories I can’t erase
I see their words in how you flinch now
When I reach
You turn your face
Do you ever miss our mornings
Cereal bowls and tangled hair
I still set two extra places
Like you might appear right there
[Chorus]
‘Cause I loved you first
Before the fights
Before the cases
Signed my name on every form
Stood in all those waiting places
If they’ve turned your hearts against me
Painted me as all that’s wrong
I will love you from a distance
Long after their stories are gone
[Bridge]
If one day you read the letters
Hidden in that old blue box
You’ll see coffee stains and teardrops
All the words I never got to talk
[Chorus]
I will love you first
Even if you never say it
Even if my name to you
Is just a wound
And you obey it
If they keep your hearts against me
If you never pick up the phone
I will love you from a distance
You are still my only home