[Verse 1]
There was a woman in the wood
With tired eyes and open hands
She learned to give before she knew
A heart could make its own demands
She carved a smile from her own face
And handed it to someone cold
Then wondered why she felt so small
When she was only trying to hold
[Pre-Chorus]
A piece for every “please don’t leave”
A piece for every silent room
A piece for every time her voice
Got swallowed by the moon
[Chorus]
All she wanted was to feel loved
Not halfway held, not almost enough
So she whittled herself down
For anyone who’d stay around
Till all that stood where she once stood
Was the whittler and the wood
All she wanted was a hand
That didn’t take more than it gave
But she kept shaving off her soul
Trying to make somebody stay
[Verse 2]
She gave her warmth to empty arms
Gave her body to be seen
Mistook the taking for a touch
Mistook the wanting for a dream
And when they vanished in the dark
Left her calling through the trees
She felt her voice go quiet again
Like childhood memories
[Pre-Chorus]
A splinter for the ones who lied
A shaving for the ones who left
A pile of all the little ways
She learned to hold her breath
[Chorus]
All she wanted was to feel loved
Not halfway held, not almost enough
So she whittled herself down
For anyone who’d stay around
Till all that stood where she once stood
Was the whittler and the wood
All she wanted was a hand
That didn’t take more than it gave
But she kept shaving off her soul
Trying to make somebody stay
[Bridge]
Then one night she saw the mirror
And it didn’t know her name
Just a floor of broken pieces
And a heart still full of blame
But somewhere in the silence
She heard her own voice say
“You don’t have to disappear
To prove that love should stay”
[Final Chorus]
All she wanted was to feel loved
But love should never cost that much
So she gathered up the splinters
And held them like they still were enough
No more carving out her soul
No more bleeding just to stay
She was never only kindling
She was fire anyway
All she wanted was to feel loved
Now she’s learning that she could
Be more than what they took from her
The whittler and the wood