[Verse 1] There's a man in the mirror wearing my father's lines Older than I feel younger than the time I know every scar I know where each one came from But I don't know exactly when I became this someone I spent years explaining why I learned to close the door What they did what I lost what I couldn't take anymore And some of it was true But truth can be a shelter too [Pre-Chorus] There comes a day when every reason runs out And all that's left is what you chose to become [Chorus] This is the man I became Not the boy I can blame Not the hands that let me down Not the years that wore me out Every choice every word every time I walked away Somebody else may have lit the fire But I decided what to do with the flame This is the man I became [Verse 2] I see the temper I swore I'd never have The silence I once hated in another man I see the distance I created when somebody got too close The same old walls with different paint The same fear wearing different clothes I promised myself I'd do it better Maybe sometimes I even did But becoming who you hated can happen quietly while you're busy raising kids [Pre-Chorus] I can forgive where I came from Without pretending I had no choice where I went [Chorus] This is the man I became Not the boy I can blame Not the hands that let me down Not the years that wore me out Every choice every word every time I walked away Somebody else may have lit the fire But I decided what to do with the flame This is the man I became [Bridge] I forgive the boy He did what he could He learned how to survive before he learned what living was But the man The man knew better Not every time But enough Enough to know when silence was cruel Enough to know when pride was winning Enough to know that “that's just who I am” was another way of saying I don't want to change [Break] The mirror never argues It just waits until you're ready to stop looking away [Final Chorus] This is the man I became And I won't call him a mistake He's loved He's failed He's stayed He's run He's given He's taken away I don't have to love every part of what I see But I have to stop pretending it belongs to someone else This is the man I became And if there's still time then this is not the man I have to remain [Outro] For the first time I can look at him without looking away
