[Verse 1] I was eight when I learned how to swallow the pain Keep your eyes off the floor don't complain Shake his hand look him straight in the face If you're scared never let it show on your face They said strength is a silence you carry alone So I built my first wall before I had a home [Pre-Chorus] Don't shake Don't bend Don't ever let them know Hold it in Stand your ground That's how a man should grow [Chorus] These are the rules Keep your head up when you're breaking These are the rules Never show what they are taking Be the one everybody can depend on Even when there's nothing left of you Don't ask why Don't let go Just do what you're supposed to do These are the rules [Verse 2] At seventeen I learned that love can leave a scar So I laughed with my friends like it never got that far At twenty-five I was chasing a name Working late trying hard to become something great Every failure was weakness every weakness was shame So I buried them deeper and called it growing up again [Pre-Chorus] Don't stop Don't fall There's always more to prove Pay the bills Take the hit You've got too much to lose [Chorus] These are the rules Keep your head up when you're breaking These are the rules Never show what they are taking Be the one everybody can depend on Even when there's nothing left of you Don't ask why Don't let go Just do what you're supposed to do These are the rules [Bridge] But nobody told me what happens inside When you spend your whole life with nowhere to hide Nobody told me the strongest can drown Without making a sound without ever falling down I did everything right So why do I feel like I disappeared? [Final Chorus] These were the rules Keep your head up while you're breaking These were the rules Give them everything worth taking Be the one everybody can depend on Till there's nothing recognizable in you Don't ask why Don't let go Don't tell them what you're going through I learned the rules I lived the rules And somewhere along the way I lost myself in them too
