Shattered & collecting pieces

Verse 1

I was seventeen when I signed up

Still a kid with borrowed pride

Thought if I ran toward the fire

I’d outrun what was inside

Came home with steady hands

But somethin’ in me shifted slow

Turns out the things you bury

Are the things that grow

—

Pre-Chorus

I learned how to stand in chaos

Learned how to take a hit

But nobody teaches you

How to sit with it

—

Chorus

There’s a hole in the middle of my chest

Where a few good men used to stand

I keep tryin’ to fill it

With fightin’ harder than I can

I don’t quit

I don’t fold

But it’s heavy holdin’ ghosts

There’s a hole in the middle of my chest

And I feel it the most

When it’s quiet

—

Verse 2

I’ve lost people I swore

I could somehow keep alive

Like if I loved ‘em hard enough

They’d make it through the night

You take the classes

They tell you it ain’t your blame

But that don’t stop the question

When you hear their name

—

Pre-Chorus

I keep playin’ it back

Like a tape won’t break

Wonderin’ if there’s one more move

I forgot to make

—

Chorus

There’s a hole in the middle of my chest

Where a few good men used to be

I keep tryin’ to carry

What wasn’t mine to keep

I don’t quit

I don’t fold

But I’m tired of bein’ strong

There’s a hole in the middle of my chest

But I’m still holdin’ on

—

Bridge (raw, personal)

I don’t want my boy growin’ up

With this weight in his blood

Thinkin’ love means savin’ everyone

Or he ain’t enough

I don’t want him fightin’ shadows

That were never his to own

I’ll take the heavy

So he won’t feel alone

—

Final Chorus (shift toward purpose)

There’s a hole in the middle of my chest

And maybe there always will

But I’m not layin’ down

And I’m not standin’ still

If I can’t fix the past

I can build what’s next

I’ll teach him he’s wanted

I’ll teach him respect

There’s a hole in the middle of my chest

But it ain’t takin’ me yet