[Intro]

[Intro] (spoken, worn, close-mic) Hey. You still there? Thought the years might've taken you. [Verse 1] (sung, weary, country ache) I remember when light used to fill up these rooms Before I learned to close every curtain by noon Fifty years of fighting a war in my chest Fifty years of putting the tired to rest Every breath feels like I stole it from time Every mirror shows a face that used to be mine I'm the ghost in my own house, stranger in the frame Don't know which version of me is left to remain [Shadow self: aggressive] (shouted, fierce, same voice but harder) OH SAVE ME THE WEARY OLD ACT You think you're the victim of your own aftermath? I'M THE REASON YOU'RE STILL DRAWING BREATH WHEN YOU WANTED TO QUIT I'M THE ONE WHO SAID YET EVERY WRONG TURN YOU TOOK — THAT WAS ME EVERY NIGHT YOU DIDN'T DIE — I WAS THE FIRE THE DRIVE THE REASON YOU BREATHE [Verse 2] (sung, desperate) You're the voice in the dark saying I'm not enough You're the weight on my chest when the going gets tough I'm so tired of fighting, I'm so tired of war I don't even recognize who I was before I just want peace now, I just want rest I want to put down this weight in my chest But you won't let me, you won't let me breathe Every time I find calm, you drag me underneath [Shadow self: dark calm] (spoken, low, dangerous) Peace? Rest? You don't GET to rest. You think the anger was the enemy? I'm the one who survived so you could sit here and complain. [Bridge: same voice, arguing with itself] (sung) I remember who I was — YOU WERE WEAK! I remember who I am — YOU WERE NOTHING! I'm trying to heal — ...you're trying to heal... I'm finally trying — ...I know. [Verse 3: the turn] (sung with new conviction, voice opening up) I'm not the woman I was, I'm not the woman I'll be I'm the scar AND the healing, the dark AND the sea Fifty years of fighting taught me something at last You don't kill your shadow — you learn that it's cast I've found peace in the war, I've found strength in the pain I'm not running no more, I'm not standing in rain I'm BOTH voices now, I'm the whole AND the parts And I'm finally ready to heal all these scars [Outro] (spoken, softer, both selves blending) ...Alright. Let's do this. Let's live. Hey. I'm still here. We both are. (long exhale) Yeah.