[Verse 1] You used to fit In the crook of my arm Chewed on my car keys Drooled on my watch Tiny boots On the wrong feet You kept falling in the hallway But you laughed every drop I fixed your bike With a butter knife Signed crumpled homework In the front-seat glow Now I'm straightening A crooked tie In a bathroom mirror I barely know [Chorus] They're playing songs you don't know I hate While you float through that room in white And I'm stuck in the doorway Holding my breath and my pride I taught you how to walk away Never how to say goodbye So I smile like it don't hurt And I clap as you change your life [Verse 2] You steal my leather jacket From the back of a chair Laugh, say "It's vintage, Dad You wouldn’t understand" You spin in that dress Ask, "Too much?" And the world goes quiet Like it's holding my hand I remember late-night fevers Cartoons humming low My shoulder as your pillow While the snow blocked the road Same eyes Same stubborn jaw You're thanking folks at tables Like you've done this all along [Chorus] They're playing songs you don't know I hate While you float through that room in white And I'm stuck in the doorway Holding my breath and my pride I taught you how to walk away Never how to say goodbye So I smile like it don't hurt And I clap as you change your life [Bridge] [Spoken, almost a whisper] I used to check if you were breathing Hand over your tiny chest Now I'm checking if I'm breathing While he calls you "my best" [Half-sung] He calls you home I call you kid He says "forever" I say "remember when…" [Verse 3] You catch my eye Across the dance floor blur Mouth, "You okay?" Like I'm the fragile one here I nod too hard Sip warm drink Think of training wheels In the driveway sink Your first scraped knee Your first slammed door The first time you said You didn't need me anymore [Chorus] They're playing songs you don't know I hate While you float through that room in white And I'm stuck in the doorway Holding my breath and my pride I taught you how to walk away Never how to say goodbye So I smile like it don't hurt And I clap as you change your life [Outro] You leave the hall On his borrowed name But those muddy little footprints Still walk through my brain Walk on, girl It's your road now I'll be sweeping up the memories Till the lights burn out

rap, Gritty blues alt-rock with spoken-word verses and gravelly male vocals. Dry, raw electric guitar and roomy minimal drums at a slow-mid tempo, bass sitting low and steady. Verses mostly spoken, drifting into melodic phrases; chorus breaks into a rough-sung hook with doubled vocals and light reverb. Occasional slide guitar swells and background “ahh”s in the bridge to heighten emotion, then pull back to bare vocal and guitar for the final line., emotional, blues, rock, vocal, slow, minimal, raw

Borrowed Boots