[Verse 1]
Suitcase by the door at 4 a.m.
Coffee in a travel cup, you're gone again
You kiss my hair but your eyes are on the clock
You say it's just a couple months, then you’ll stop
[Verse 2]
Photos on the fridge of foreign sand
Birthday on a screen, you raise your hand
"Doing this for you" through a hotel phone
But I learned how to tie my shoes on my own
[Chorus]
Where were you when I needed you most
When the dark felt loud and the room felt cold
You were somewhere chasing something overseas
Saying it was for the money, but it never felt like me
Where were you when I needed you most
[Verse 3]
Airport souvenirs on my nightstand
Keychains, shirts, wrong size bands
You always knew my country, never knew my friends
You always knew departure, never how it ends
[Pre-Chorus]
You call it sacrifice
But it sounds like an alibi
Was the distance on the map
Or was it in your mind
[Chorus]
Where were you when I needed you most
When the dark felt loud and the room felt cold
You were somewhere chasing something overseas
Saying it was for the money, but it never felt like me
Where were you when I needed you most
[Bridge]
I don’t hate you, I just ache
Every promise felt half-awake
If you needed out, you could have said
Instead of leaving echoes in my bed
[low vocal register] "This is all for us" you’d say
But you were always packing, halfway out the frame
[Chorus]
Where were you when I needed you most
[Outro]
[whispered vocals] Suitcase by the door, same old scene
I learned to live with what you couldn’t be
You were gone, even holding me close
Where were you when I needed you most