The Debt Was Never Mine

[Intro]

Mm

Mm-hmm

[Verse 1]

Nine years I keep my mouth shut

Signed the statement in a borrowed shirt

You came every Sunday with bruised knuckles and oranges

I said nothing when they asked

I said less when they cheered

[Pre-Chorus]

Told myself that silence was protection

Told myself the debt was mine to hold

[Chorus]

I paid it all for you

I paid it all for you

Now the cost comes due

I paid it all for you

[Verse 2]

Your sister found me at the depot in Beulah

Sliding a tote across the table like an offering

She said she mailed me letters for all nine lost winters

Post office said resident unknown

So I count them now on the bus

[Pre-Chorus]

You built a life on the ground I carried

You built a name on the voice I bit back

[Chorus]

I paid it all for you

I paid it all for you

Some debts don't come due

I paid it all for you

[Bridge]

The judge asked once who drove that night

I looked at you

You looked at your mother

I looked at the tile

Thirty seconds turns into nine years

[Verse 3]

So I write one letter back

Sign the parole card and the lease in Fairview

Not forgiven

Not forgetting

Just not your final word anymore

[Chorus]

I paid it all for you

I paid it all for you

The debt was never mine to prove

I paid it all for you

[Outro]

Mm

Mm-hmm

Mm