(Spoken Intro – soft, like a memory)
(quiet, shaky voice)
“I was eight…
I’m sorry, Daddy…
I didn’t mean to make you mad…”
(soft pause, faint room tone… then music fades in)
⸻
(Verse 1)
I was eight years old, standing in the door
Didn’t understand what anger was for
Plastic bottle, heavy in his hand
Changed the way I’d see this land
Mama saw it, her heart broke wide
Fire in her eyes she couldn’t hide
That moment carved into my soul
A little kid losing control
⸻
(Pre-Chorus)
I grew up fast, I had to learn
How to carry pain that burns
Kept it quiet, held it deep
Cried in silence, couldn’t sleep
⸻
(Chorus)
But I made it out alive, yeah I’m still here
Through every wound, through every fear
They tried to break me, tried to decide
But they don’t know the strength inside
Yeah, I bend, yeah, I fall apart
But I rebuild my shattered heart
Look at me now, I survived
I made it out… I’m still alive
⸻
(Verse 2)
School halls echo with their words
Every laugh, yeah, it still hurt
Pointed fingers, cruel and loud
Tried to bury me in a crowd
They saw my eye but not my soul
Didn’t see what made me whole
Said things that cut me way too deep
But I refused to stay beneath
⸻
(Pre-Chorus)
There were nights I lost my way
Dark thoughts telling me not to stay
But something in me wouldn’t fade
A quiet voice that always stayed
⸻
(Chorus)
Yeah, I made it out alive, I didn’t break
Even when my heart would shake
They tried to tell me I was done
But I kept fighting, I kept on
Yeah, I bend, yeah, I break sometimes
But I don’t stay down in those lines
Look at me now, I survived
I made it out… I’m still alive
⸻
(Bridge)
Now I got a home, I got a life
Got real love, not built on strife
Got a family that sees me clear
Not my past, just who I am here
And I’m proud of where I stand today
Every scar I made my way
The past don’t get to own my name
I walked through hell, I rose from flames
⸻
(Final Chorus)
Yeah, I made it out alive, and I’m proud now
I don’t need to hide my crown
Every piece of me survived
Every broken part revived
Yeah, I bend, yeah, I break, it’s true
But I found strength I never knew
Look at me now, I survived
I made it out… I’m still alive
⸻
(Outro – soft, peaceful)
That little kid still lives in me…
But they don’t have to be scared anymore