HELD YOU FIRST

(T HUF) (Gen ct) (Sub ft/dad) (BPM 74) (Key G) (M ld) (F hm) (Mood emo) (Str big)

(Intro) (ac gtr) (pad)

(V1) Half past midnight in a dim white room (ac gtr)

(V1) Tryin' to act steady but my hands shook too (lf dyn)

(V1) Doctor laid you down right into my arms (vox raw)

(V1) Whole world quiet like it paused all alarms (pad lt)

(V1) Your heartbeat thumping through that gown (kick sp)

(V1) Tiny fingers wrapped on mine, wouldn’t let go now (detl)

(V1) Big sis asleep on the pull-out, out cold (bg ref)

(V1) I whispered, “Baby, wake up, there’s a hand to hold” (vox int)

(PC) She sat up shakin', still half in a dream (bd riser)

(PC) Eyes wide open when she saw you breathe (str lt)

(PC) I set you in her lap, worlds collide (emo)

(PC) Didn’t know that’d be the best day of my life (lift)

(CH) I held you first, before the world could touch you (big ch)

(CH) Before the hurt, before the blame, before the lies felt true (emo hi)

(CH) Before the distance, all the miles and everything said (rm verb)

(CH) Back when all you knew was my chest and your small head (img)

(CH) So if you wonder if you were really wanted on this earth (hook)

(CH) Let this line play till it settles in the dirt (hook rpt)

(CH) I held you first, yeah, I held you first (tag)

(V2) Years fly by like signs on a highway line (beat add)

(V2) Pictures of birthdays where I’m missing every time (detl)

(V2) Phone lights up with a number I still know (phn)

(V2) I rehearse “I love you” but it hits a cold tone, no (drop)

(V2) Grown folks fighting with their poison words (conf)

(V2) You only heard their version of the story you heard (hurt)

(V2) They said I walked away, that I disappeared (lies)

(V2) Truth is I stood outside the doorway of your years

(PC) There’s a door now time and talk put in between (symb)

(PC) It ain’t wood, it ain’t glass, it’s everything you’ve seen (met)

(PC) But if your heart ever cracks enough to let light in (hope)

(PC) These same old arms will pull you back again (lift2)

(CH) I held you first, before the world could touch you (big ch2)

(CH) Before the papers, before the screaming, before I lost to you (cust)

(CH) Before the silence, all the nights I loved you from afar (far)

(CH) Screaming prayers into the ceiling of my empty car (car)

(CH) So if you feel abandoned, like your blood don’t mean a thing (id)

(CH) Let this be the proof inside every song I sing (meta)

(CH) I held you first, yeah, I held you first (hook rpt)

(BR) I can’t buy back birthdays or tears you cried alone (str br)

(BR) Can’t rewind the damage from the things you were told (raw)

(BR) But there’s a place time can’t steal, nothing can reverse (core)

(BR) That first breath you took… I was there. I held you first. (hit)

(CH) I held you first, before the world could touch you

(CH) Before the distance, before the blame, before “Daddy never loved you” (corr)

(CH) If all you remember is a story where I’m cursed

(CH) Let heaven write the ending that I held you first.

(Outro) held U first (x2)