Verse 1
They didn’t hear the nights I folded
Under weight I never showed them
Smiles stitched over fractures deep
I learned applause comes cheap
I bled quiet in borrowed rooms
Learned survival don’t make noise
Pain was private, strength was staged
I wore recovery like poise
Pre-Chorus
I learned real hurt don’t beg for witnesses
It just waits till you stand up anyway
Chorus
They clapped when I stopped crying
Not when I was breaking down
They cheered the silence, praised the strength
But never asked what drowned
They love the ending, not the cost
They love the healed, not the fight
Yeah they clapped when I stopped crying
But they left when I needed light
Verse 2
I rebuilt myself in public
Like that makes it less damn lonely
Turned scars into conversation
So nobody would own me
They say “You’re strong, you’re different now”
Like strength erased the fall
But strength was just what I became
When no one came at all
Pre-Chorus
Funny how pain turns invisible
The second you survive it
Chorus
They clapped when I stopped crying
Not when my chest was split in two
They praised the calm, ignored the storm
That carried me through
They love the comeback, not the crawl
They love the shine, not the night
Yeah they clapped when I stopped crying
But they never held me right
Bridge
If healing was easy
I’d still be on the floor
If love showed up early
I wouldn’t need it anymore
I don’t owe them strength
I don’t owe them grace
I survived myself
That’s the real applause I take
Breakdown (Drop)
I didn’t rise for them
I didn’t heal to be seen
I stood up because staying down
Was killing me
Final Chorus
They clapped when I stopped crying
But I know what it took to stand
I buried versions of myself
They never shook the hand
Let them cheer the finish line
I ran it in the dark
Yeah they clapped when I stopped crying
But I saved my own heart
Outro
No stage
No crowd
No sound
Just me
Still standing
GoffredoLegacy
