walking away

“You'll never love if you never open your heart. You'll never know if you never let somebody get close. And yeah... walking away before you even try is probably the safest way to never get hurt. But safe ain't the same thing as alive.” Beat drops. VERSE “You can't lose something you never had, Can't miss something you never wanted bad. Can't call it heartbreak when you never let it start, But you can't call it love if you never opened up your heart. Yeah, walking away keeps the tears off your face, Keeps another person's fingerprints off your faith. No promises broken, no memories to bury, No midnight phone calls saying, ‘Baby, I'm sorry.’ That's the safest road, I ain't gonna lie, Keep your heart locked down and you won't watch it die. But here's the price nobody tells you when you're young: You can't get burned if you never stand near the sun.” PRE-CHORUS Beat pulls back. Gospel voices begin answering. LEAD: “You can run from the pain...” CHOIR: “But you run from the love.” LEAD: “You can lock up your heart...” CHOIR: “But what good is a heart you don't trust?” CHORUS Huge gospel explosion. **“She'll never love if she never opens her heart, Never know where it could go if she never starts. Walking away is the safest way to never bleed, But sometimes what you need ain't what you think you need. You can't miss what you never wanted, Can't lose what you never had. But you'll never know real love If you're too scared to risk the bad. Yeah, you can stay safe from the hurt... But you'll stay safe from the love too.”** Choir repeats: “Safe from the hurt... Safe from the love...” VERSE 2 Harder rap delivery, more swagger. “I ain't saying chase somebody who don't choose you, Ain't saying beg somebody just to refuse you. Know your worth, walk away when the door's closed, But don't close every door 'cause somebody else broke. Don't punish tomorrow for what yesterday did, Don't build a prison around the heart of the kid Who still wants somebody to hold 'em close, Still wants somebody who won't let 'em go. See, rejection ain't always a loss, Sometimes walking away is counting the cost. But if you leave before love ever gets a chance, You ain't protecting your heart... you're killing the romance.” BRIDGE Everything drops except acoustic guitar and distant choir. Lead becomes almost conversational: “She's right about one thing... You can't be hurt by losing something you never had. And she's right about another... You can't miss something you never wanted. But here's the part nobody wants to hear... You can't be loved if you never let yourself be loved. You can't discover forever if you leave at hello. And you can't call it failure when you never tried.” Silence. Then one choir voice: “Open your heart...” Another: “Just try...” Then the whole choir rises. FINAL CHORUS **“She'll never love if she never opens her heart, Never know where it could go if she never starts. You done something right?You'll never have to worry about shooting me down again. Walking away is the safest way to never bleed, But sometimes what you need ain't what you think you need. You can't miss what you never wanted, Can't lose what you never had. But you'll never know real love If you're too scared to risk the bad. You can run from the hurt, You can hide from the pain, You can swear you'll never love So you never break again... BUT YOU CAN'T FIND LOVE IF YOU NEVER TRY!”** Choir erupts: “NEVER TRY! NEVER KNOW! NEVER LOVE! NEVER GROW!” Lead, shouting over the choir: “I'd rather risk getting hurt than spend my whole damn life wondering what could've been!” Final choir: “OPEN YOUR HEART! OPEN YOUR HEART! OPEN YOUR HEART AND TRY!” End with the guitar ringing out and one quiet final line: “Safe ain't the same thing as loved.”