Nice Guy

Yeah…

They always say I’m a nice guy.

Funny how little they know.

I smile when I see you, wave when I pass,

Hold the door open, always give a hand.

Ask how you’re doing, say, “Yeah, I’m alright,”

Everybody knows me as the easy-going type.

Never make a scene, never looking for a fight,

Keep my head down, keep my family right.

You see the surface and you think that’s the truth,

But you don’t know what I had to go through.

I learned real young you don’t get shit for free,

Had to build my own strength when nobody believed.

Every scar that I carry got a story underneath,

But I don’t tell those stories, I just bury ’em deep.

So you call me kind,

You call me good,

Like you’d understand me

If you only could.

But there’s something in the dark

That I keep out of sight,

You only know the man

That I let you meet tonight.

I’m the nice guy, smile for the picture,

Wave when I see you, never make it an issue.

You think I’m harmless, think I’m easy to read,

But there’s a whole different animal underneath.

I’m the nice guy, everybody knows me,

Always say hello, always act like I’m lonely.

But don’t mistake my kindness for weakness inside,

’Cause the worst parts of me learned how to hide.

Yeah, I’m a nice guy…

At least that’s what you see.

You don’t wanna know

What’s underneath me.

I help when I can, I don’t ask for a thing,

Would give you my last if you needed a hand.

That’s the part that they see, that’s the story they tell,

But I know what I’ve buried, and I know it too well.

I’ve been pushed to the edge, I’ve been down on my knees,

Had days where the pressure nearly swallowed me.

Had to learn how to stand when the world said fall,

Now I don’t scare easy, I don’t scare at all.

So I laugh with the boys, keep the mood light,

Go home and fight battles nobody sees at night.

You can call me a good man, and maybe that’s true,

But being good doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’d do.

You see the calm,

You never saw the storm.

You see the man

But never what made him form.

There’s a darkness in my blood

That I learned to control,

And that’s the part of me

I’ll never let you know.

I’m the nice guy, smile for the picture,

Wave when I see you, never make it an issue.

You think I’m harmless, think I’m easy to read,

But there’s a whole different animal underneath.

I’m the nice guy, everybody knows me,

Always say hello, always act like I’m lonely.

But don’t mistake my kindness for weakness inside,

’Cause the worst parts of me learned how to hide.

Yeah, I’m a nice guy…

At least that’s what you see.

You don’t wanna know

What’s underneath me.

Maybe I’m not nice…

Maybe I’m just controlled.

Maybe all the things I’ve lived

Just taught me what not to show.

‘Cause I’ve got a side of me

That I keep behind my eyes,

And if you ever saw it,

You’d understand the smile.

I’m the nice guy, smile for the picture,

Wave when I see you, never make it a