[Verse 1]
I used to lace your boots
before the sun got mean
carry your groceries in
laugh like I ain't been seen
Now the porch light shakes
when I pull in slow
your mama used to call me safe
look what that word don't know
I kept my hands clean
till the hurt got hands
now I grip that blame
like a blade in sand
[Pre-Chorus]
Lord, I tried, I tried
to keep my name
but pain got fat
and it fed my shame
I heard them say
he turned to dust
I heard them pray
that prayer ain't us
[Chorus]
Call me what you want
I became that man
Call me what you want
I became that man
Blackened halo
in these trembling hands
Blackened halo
I became that man
[Verse 2]
Got a scar on my jaw
from a night I lost
not a fist I threw
just a heart that crossed
Your goodbye still hangs
on my back door frame
every time I breathe
I taste that name
Now I wear my grin
like a Sunday lie
cut glass eyes
and a dry, hard sky
I talk too big
'cause the truth cuts deep
I'm the wolf they wrote
when I couldn't sleep
[Pre-Chorus]
Lord, I tried, I tried
to stay pure
but grief made a home
and locked that door
I heard my own voice
sound like steel
I heard that devil
say "this is real"
[Chorus]
Call me what you want
I became that man
Call me what you want
I became that man
Blackened halo
in these trembling hands
Blackened halo
I became that man
[Bridge]
Mama said, "Boy, don't let them names
crawl into your blood"
But I kept on feeding
that flood, that mud
If I look like a demon
it's a borrowed face
made from every "too late"
and every lost embrace
Still I stand in the wreck
with a crooked crown
if I burned at all
I burned me down
[Final Chorus]
Call me what you want
I became that man
Call me what you want
I became that man
Blackened halo
in these trembling hands
Blackened halo
I became that man
Call me what you want
I became that man
Call me what you want
I became that man
Blackened halo
in these trembling hands
Blackened halo
I became that man