[INTRO - Ambient guitar, radio static, distant piano, tension build]
[VERSE 1 - sparse beat, glitch percussion]
It wasn’t really a home to us
Just a place we closed the door
Somewhere safe enough for sleeping
Nothing built for much more
We kept all of our things there
Every box and every chair
And our kids got used to thinking
They were safe with us in there
But safety started shifting slowly
With every call we had to take
Between our parents needing care
And everything at stake
[PRE-CHORUS - clean vocal, rising distortion, whispers]
Nobody tells you how it feels
When safety starts to disappear
While we’re trying to care for everyone
And keep the kids right here
[CHORUS - full band, heavy guitars, layered vocals]
Another box in the backseat
It all just feels so wrong
But you're driving through the city
Just trying to keep us strong
It feels so wrong, so wrong
We’re just trying to stay strong
It feels so wrong, so wrong
But we keep holding on
Ed Sheeran on the radio
It makes my chest ache
And I just sit here quietly
Trying not to break
Trying not to break
Trying not to break
We keep holding on
We keep holding on
[VERSE 2 - heavier drums, distorted bass]
It was just a shelter for us
Four walls and borrowed space
But it was where my kids were sleeping
Feeling safe inside that place
Now every sound feels different
Every night feels too unsure
Like the ground I thought was steady
Doesn’t feel steady anymore
I’m running on exhaustion
And I can see it in your face
We’re both too overwhelmed to say it
But we both feel out of place
Between our parents needing us
And trying to hold the line
There wasn’t room left anywhere
For safety of our own in time
[PRE-CHORUS - tension build]
No one warns you what it costs you
When you try to keep things whole
[BRIDGE - stripped piano, reverb]
I keep thinking of the nights there
When the doors would lock and hold
Not comfort, not a refuge
Just somewhere out of the cold
Now even that feels distant
Like it never really stayed
And sleep comes in broken pieces
That don’t take the fear away
The sound of children breathing
Is the only thing that’s real
While everything we’re holding
Feels like it’s too much to feel
[FINAL CHORUS - full chaos, stacked vocals]
Another box in the backseat
It all just feels so wrong
But you're driving through the city
Just trying to keep us strong
It feels so wrong, so wrong
We’re just trying to stay strong
It feels so wrong, so wrong
But we keep holding on
Ed Sheeran on the radio
It makes my chest ache
And I just sit here quietly
Trying not to break
BREAK!
Trying not to break
Trying not to break
We keep holding on
We keep holding on
[OUTRO - piano, radio bleed]
It wasn’t a home to us
Just somewhere we could stay
Eilidhschy
