[Verse 1]
I keep hearing all these love songs
Wondering who they remind me of
Then it hit me like cold water
It sure wasn’t us
‘Cause the man I’d wait forever for
Would’ve never watched me break
Would’ve reached before I hit the floor
Not walked away the second I shook
[Pre-Chorus]
I’ve been mourning someone
Who never took a single breath
Turns out my favorite memories
Were built on promises instead
[Chorus]
You’re not the man I fell in love with
I don’t think he was ever real
Just a fictional character
With your eyes and your appeal
Every lyric that I wrote you
Every prayer I sent above
Wasn’t written for the real you
It was written for the man I made up
You’re a complete stranger
Wearing someone else’s face
And now I finally understand
Why love felt so out of place
[Verse 2]
I defended every red flag
Painted colors where there weren’t any there
Called your silence “complicated”
Called your distance “scared”
I filled in all the missing pieces
With the heart I wanted yours to be
I kept writing happy endings
To a book you’d never read
[Bridge]
Maybe that’s why this hurts so much
Not because I lost “the one”
But because I have to bury
Someone who was never born
How do you say goodbye
To a ghost you built yourself?
How do you stop missing someone
Who only ever lived inside your head?
[Final Chorus]
You’re not the man I fell in love with
That version doesn’t exist
He’s somewhere between my hope
And every promise that you missed
All these songs about forever
All these dreams I couldn’t drop
They’re not about the man you are
They’re about the man
I thought you were.
So if someday you hear these records
And wonder who they’re speaking of…
Don’t flatter yourself.
None of them were ever about you.
They were all about someone
I wished you would’ve become.
