Female pop vocal — emotional, cinematic, wounded but loving)
[Verse 1]
He came home from a soldier’s war
Dust on his boots, ghosts at the door
Flinches when thunder shakes the glass
Still hears the echoes from the past
But not every war flies a flag
Some live in little girls gone sad
Some live in hallways late at night
Behind “don’t tell” and “you’re alright”
[Pre-Chorus]
Daddy should’ve been a refuge
Not the reason doors made her freeze
Year by year she built her armor
Piece by piece from shattered dreams
[Chorus]
The war is over now
But the aftershocks still come
A word said wrong
A certain laugh
And suddenly she’s back where it begun
She’s not trying to hurt you
She’s just fighting what she lost
You’re seeing fear dressed up as anger
Living through the aftershocks
[Verse 2]
She learned to strike before struck first
Love came tangled up with hurt
Judges hard and trusts too slow
How’s a broken compass supposed to know?
Family says she’s hard to hold
Heart runs hotter, hands run cold
But the few who know the truth
See the frightened child inside the bruise
[Pre-Chorus]
So they guard her heart in silence
Even when she pushes them away
Holding back their own frustration
Knowing fear is what’s speaking that way
[Chorus]
The war is over now
But the aftershocks still come
A slammed door, a shadow crossed
And suddenly the ground comes undone
She’s not trying to hurt you
She’s surviving what it cost
Sometimes love still shakes and trembles
Living through the aftershocks
[Bridge]
You can leave a battlefield
Still carry it for years
Some earthquakes never finish
They just disappear between the tears
And when she lets you hold her
Hold on gentle, hold on long
’Cause she’s been fighting all her life
To believe that she belongs
[Final Chorus]
The war is over now
But it’s never really gone
The aftershocks come and go
Like the ringing of a siren song
And all they really can do
Is love her through the dark
Through every tremor, every panic
Every fracture in her heart
Yeah, she loves them through
Even with her pain and scars
Still reaching through the ruin
Still surviving aftershocks
[Outro]
The war is over now…
But the earth still shakes sometimes…
ElCeviche