[Intro]
(piano, slow build)
Yeah…
[Verse 1]
I was somebody’s problem before I could talk
Handed off to strangers before I could walk
Biological parents — one’s in a federal pen
One can’t leave the psych ward, let’s go over that again
The people who chose me — yeah that one cuts deep
You signed the papers first, made promises to keep
Early years were decent, I won’t take that away
But decent disappeared the moment I got in the way
Seventeen in Wisconsin, mom said she was through
Spent a year on couches figuring out what to do
West Virginia kid moved across the map
Divorced parents, brand new state — no way to go back
[Hook]
I wake up with the pressure sitting right on my chest
Hiding everything I feel so my family gets the best
Can’t let it go, can’t call it fine
So I bury what I carry and I hold the front line
[Verse 2]
You quit when it got hard — I don’t do that today
You picked me out of children like you knew what you wanted
Then the moment I got difficult you left me haunted
17 to 30 that’s the gap you left wide open
Nobody catching me when I was broken
I was your son, you chose me, that was the whole deal
But choosing was conditional and now I know how that feels
My biological ones never even tried
One runs from the law, one can’t get outside
Her own mind long enough to be anything real
And I look at my own kids and I still feel it all still
[Bridge]
(stripped back)
My blood says prison
My blood says ward
My blood says broken
But I choose more
[Chorus]
I’m not my blood, I’m not the ones who let me go
I’m the break in the cycle, I’m the thing they’ll never know
I wake up with the weight and I don’t let it show
Leading from the front so my kids never feel alone
Never feel alone
[Verse 3]
Now I’m older and I’m building something real
Nobody handed me a table at the top
Made mine from nothing and I haven’t stopped
My kids wake up every morning with their father in their lives
That’s the difference right there, that’s what keeps me alive
I see my blood in the rearview — prison, ward, and gone
I hold the pressure down, put my family first, and carry on
Let them see the strength and hide the part that’s coming undone
‘Cause everything I never had — I’m giving to my sons
[Chorus]
I’m not my blood, I’m not the ones who let me go
I’m the break in the cycle, I’m the thing they’ll never know
I wake up with the weight and I don’t let it show
Leading from the front so my kids never feel alone
Never feel alone
[Final Bridge]
I used to think being chosen meant I mattered
Turns out chosen don’t mean nothing if they scatter
But my kids will never question if I’m staying
That’s the only prayer I’ve ever kept on replaying
[Outro]
My kids will never sit in some stranger’s living room at 17
Wondering what they did
Wondering why they weren’t enough
I chose them first
And I’m not going anywhere
That’s it
