(Verse 1)
They shook my hand with a smile too wide
Said, “Son, you’ll be fine if you toe that line”
Fed me hope like a loaded gun
Told me I’d win if I learned to run
I signed my name in borrowed ink
On promises thinner than I think
By the time I learned what the paper said
They’d taken the coat off my back and left me—
(Pre-Chorus)
With a prayer I didn’t believe
And a debt I couldn’t leave
(Chorus)
I was torn to shreds by the hands that fed me
Called it mercy, called it steady
Said, “This pain builds character”
Funny thing, it just made me bitter
Torn to shreds, still on my feet
Truth tastes bad but it keeps me free
You can keep your crowns and threads
I’ve got nothing left to lose but what you tore to shreds
(Verse 2)
I watched good men learn how to kneel
Watched lies dressed up as ideals
Every sermon came with a price
Every rule was carved with dice
They said, “Be grateful, don’t ask why”
While they weighed our worth and let it die
Funny how the loudest saints
Always need someone else to break
(Pre-Chorus)
They call it order, call it fate
I call it teeth marks on the gate
(Chorus)
I was torn to shreds by the hands that fed me
Called it mercy, called it steady
Said, “This pain builds character”
Funny thing, it just made me bitter
Torn to shreds, still on my feet
Truth tastes bad but it keeps me free
You can keep your crowns and threads
I’ve got nothing left to lose but what you tore to shreds
(Bridge)
If silence is peace, then peace is a lie
I’ve buried enough just to get by
You can hang your laws on chapel doors
But hunger don’t listen anymore
I won’t beg, I won’t confess
I won’t clean what you call mess
If being whole means biting my tongue
I’ll stay broken and speak it loud
(Break)
No bells rang when the deal went bad
No hands reached when the world went mad
(Final Chorus)
I was torn to shreds, yeah, left to bleed
By wolves who preached about charity
They said, “This is how it has to be”
Funny how it’s never them, it’s always me
Torn to shreds, but I still stand
With dirt-stained truth in my hands
When the story’s told and the smoke all clears
They’ll choke on the truth they tried to shear
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