Left At The Door

[Verse 1]
You left a note on the counter
My name spelled wrong at the top
Said you were chasing an answer
I was the anchor you dropped
I learned to pour my own cereal
Climb on a chair for the bowl
Four little hands doing dishes
Trying to scrub off the hole
[Chorus]
How do you walk away from your own blood
Call it love
Then shut the door?
How do you tear a heart out of a child
Like you don't need it anymore?
You said I was trouble
You said I was yours
Guess both of those were lies
I'm still standing here
Still standing here
Left at the door of your life
[Verse 2]
He poured his name down the bottle
Said it burned less every year
Looked right through me in the kitchen
Like my voice was just the air
"You're not my daughter
" he muttered
As if the words weighed a ton
Funny how light they can travel
When they land on your youngest one
[Chorus]
How do you walk away from your own blood
Call it love
Then shut the door?
How do you tear a heart out of a child
Like you don't need it anymore?
You said I was trouble
You said I was yours
Guess both of those were lies
I'm still standing here
Still standing here
Left at the door of your life
[Bridge]
I built a family from strangers
People who chose me to stay
Every goodbye that you gave me
Taught me to mean what I say
If I ever hold a baby
Promise burned into my skin
I will never be the one
Who doesn't let them in (no)
[Chorus]
How do you walk away from your own blood
Call it love
Then shut the door?
How do you tear a heart out of a child
Like you don't need it anymore?
You said I was broken
But look at me now
Growing up from all your lies
I'm still standing here
Still standing here
Not at the door of your life
No
I'm walking past
I'm walking past
Your door this time

pop, Minimal piano-led pop ballad, female vocals. Intimate, close-mic verses over soft, broken chords and subtle ambient pads; chorus blooms with warm strings and stacked harmonies. Gentle pulse from low percussion and distant kicks in second chorus. Bridge strips back to solo vocal and sparse piano, then final chorus swells, lingering on a long vocal ad-lib into a soft, unresolved ending., ballad