My Headphones and My Silence

​[Verse 1]

I was fourteen when the world fell apart,

In a single moment, I had to grow up fast.

I reached out my hands, pushed the danger away,

And locked all my questions deep in the past.

I wanted to give up, I couldn't take any more,

But they needed me too much to let me fall.

There was a void in the house that couldn't be filled,

So I started running, working since sixteen,

Standing strong through it all.

​[Chorus]

And now I put my headphones on and close the door,

My room is the only place where I can just be me.

They tell me "this isn't a shared flat, it's a family,"

But I just need a corner to call my own, to feel free.

I listen to sad songs just to feel understood,

While the noise of the world keeps spinning around.

I’ve protected everyone for my whole life,

Now let me breathe without making a sound.

​[Verse 2]

At the nursery I smile, the children watch me laugh,

Everything is pure there, a world I know how to guard.

But then I come home, and there’s a man I didn't choose,

A presence every night that makes staying here hard.

They tell me I'm hiding, that I should be there,

But they don't understand how tired my heart has grown.

I have to accept what they need every day,

But who accepts my need to be left alone?

​[Bridge]

And if someone asks me "who are you?"

I just stay quiet, nothing comes to mind.

Am I the one who's been fighting for seven long years,

Or am I just tired of leaving myself behind?

I don't have to have an answer tonight,

Sometimes strength is just admitting you can't carry the light.

​[Chorus]

And now I put my headphones on and close the door,

My room is the only place where I can just be me.

They tell me "this isn't a shared flat, it's a family,"

But I just need a corner to call my own, to feel free.

I listen to sad songs just to feel understood,

While the noise of the world keeps spinning around.

I’ve protected everyone for my whole life,

Now let me breathe without making a sound.

​[Outro]

I still don't know exactly what kind of person I am,

Maybe I'm just a girl who gave everything she could.

But tonight I turn off the lights, hold my dog close,

And in my silence, I'm finally understood.

(The notes fade into silence...)