The Man You Needed

I was twenty-three with an ego bigger than my bank account

Thought I had all the time in the world to figure out

How to be the man you were already seeing in me

But I was too blind, too proud, too young to believe

That a woman like you wouldn't wait forever

For a boy to become what you deserved

You told me with your eyes before you told me with your words

That something in you was slowly dying every time

I chose my friends over dinner plans we made

Every time I made you feel like second place

You were screaming and I heard nothing but silence

Because I wasn't listening with the right parts of me

Now I'm thirty-one and I finally understand

What you meant when you said love is not enough

It takes presence, it takes showing up, it takes sacrifice

It takes putting someone else before your pride

And I learned that lesson but I learned it too late

Became the man you needed after you walked away

I saw you last week, you looked happy, you looked free

There was a ring on your finger that should've been from me

And I smiled because you deserve that peace

Even if it breaks me knowing I could've been the one

If I had just grown up a little faster

If I had just loved you a little smarter

The hardest part isn't knowing that I lost you

It's knowing that I had everything and didn't see it

You were patient when I gave you reasons not to be

You were faithful when I made it hard to stay

You were loving when I didn't love myself enough

To recognize a blessing standing right in front of me

I don't write this song to win you back, that ship has sailed

I write it for the man I used to be as a warning

That the woman willing to fight for you won't fight forever

That her patience has a limit even when her love does not

That one day she'll wake up and choose herself over you

And you'll spend the rest of your life wishing you had too

So if you're listening and you've got a good woman at home

One who loves you despite every reason not to

Don't be the fool I was, thinking she'll always be there

Thinking you can grow up tomorrow and she'll wait

Because tomorrow has a way of never coming

And she has a way of finding someone who's already the man

This is my confession, this is my testimony

I became the man you needed but I became him too late

And I hope he treats you the way I should have

I hope he gives you everything I was too scared to give

You deserve it all, you always did

I just wish I had been ready to give it to you