[Intro – distant piano, mechanical clock] Funny thing about giving everything... You think the result gets to decide what it was worth. It doesn't. [Verse 1] I spent years counting every fucking mile Like suffering longer made the ending worthwhile Kept every promise long after it hurt Put my hands in the fire and called that fucking work Thought if I carried enough of the load Nobody else would have to know How close I was to letting go So I smiled through my teeth and kept dragging it home Built my whole worth on what I could save How much I could carry, how well I behaved And every time something still fell apart I took the fucking failure straight to heart [Pre-Chorus] I thought effort guaranteed the end Thought loyalty meant never bend Thought giving everything I had Meant nothing good could turn out bad Turns out— Life never signed that deal. [Chorus] I gave everything And some things still fucking died Held them with both hands Still watched them leave my side But don't tell me it meant nothing Just because it didn't stay I am standing here because of Everything that broke along the way It mattered when I loved it It mattered when I tried The ending doesn't get to rewrite Every fucking mile [Verse 2] I used to keep score with scars on my skin Every loss another reason I couldn't win If they left, I failed If it broke, that's me If I couldn't fix it What fucking use could I be? That's a dangerous way to measure a man By everything outside him going according to plan Kids grow up People change Love can leave Good intentions don't make anybody stay And sometimes you can do everything right Still lose the fucking thing you fought for all night That isn't weakness. That's life. [Chorus] I gave everything And some things still fucking died Held them with both hands Still watched them leave my side But don't tell me it meant nothing Just because it didn't stay I am standing here because of Everything that broke along the way It mattered when I loved it It mattered when I tried The ending doesn't get to rewrite Every fucking mile [Bridge – stripped] Here's what took me forty fucking years: Not everything I lose is evidence I failed. Not everything I save is evidence I succeeded. Sometimes holding on is fear. Sometimes letting go is strength. And sometimes... You do your absolute fucking best and still don't get the ending you thought you earned. That's not the end of you. [Breakdown] I WAS THERE. I FUCKING TRIED. I BLED FOR THINGS THAT NEVER SURVIVED. BUT I'M DONE LETTING THE LAST PAGE DECIDE WHAT THE WHOLE FUCKING STORY MEANT TO MY LIFE. [Final Chorus] I gave everything Some of it disappeared Some became the reason I'm still fucking standing here So tell me it was pointless Tell me nothing fucking changed I'll show you every scar I carry And the man those scars became It mattered when I loved them It mattered when I stayed It mattered when I finally knew When I had to walk away The ending isn't failure The loss doesn't erase Every fucking piece of me I found along the way [Outro – piano and ticking clock] I used to think if it didn't last... I wasted my time. Now I know better. Time doesn't have to give you what you wanted to give you something. Some things end. What they made in you... remains.
