You Don’t Know Me

[Verse 1]
You still look at me like yesterday
Like I never changed, like I lost my way
Like I’m still that man I used to be
But that ain’t who you see in me

[Verse 2]
I paid my dues just to stay alive
Let go of pieces I held inside
Took the hurt with an open heart
Let it break me down, then restart

[Chorus]
You don’t know me — not anymore
I’ve bled and I’ve crawled on this road before
Yeah I’ve lost things you can’t replace
Just to stand here in a different place
I gave it all just to believe
Held on tight when it cut so deep
Yeah I changed in ways you can’t see
You don’t know me

[Verse 3]
I took the weight I didn’t deserve
Still gave my best, still never swerved
Kept my soul when it would’ve been easy
To let this world turn cold and leave me

[Instrumental Break – Acoustic Guitar Solo]
[Warm, melodic acoustic guitar carries the chorus hook, supported by soft pedal steel swells]

[Bridge]
If you walked one mile in these shoes
You’d know what a heart can lose
And what it takes just to believe
In the man I had to be

[Final Chorus]
You don’t know me — not anymore
I’ve bled and I’ve crawled on this road before
Yeah I’ve lost things you can’t replace
Just to stand here in a different place
I gave it all just to believe
Held on tight when it cut so deep
Yeah I changed in ways you can’t see
You don’t know me

[Outro]
No, you don’t know me
No, you don’t know me
Not the man I had to be

80s neotraditional country ballad, smooth male baritone, pedal steel guitar, slow swing, polished Nashville production