(Verse 1) The world didn’t stop, though it should have gone still, When the stroke of a pen broke a thousand hearts’ will. Unsuspecting, they just kept to themselves, see Living the lives that they’re meant to live free. Then the door hit the latch, and the light left the room, As a cold piece of paper sealed everyone's doom. No one held their hand as the breath slipped away, Just the weight of a mandate that forced them to stay. (Chorus) Oh, let the ground tremble, let the sky start to cry, For the thousands who never said goodbye. They weren't just a "measure," they weren't just a "case," They were a laugh, and a secret, and a soft, loving face. The rule was a hammer, the rule was a blade, And we’re left in the ruin of the choices they made. God, hear the silence, it’s screaming your name, For the lives that were burned not changed. (Verse 2) There’s a mother who’s waiting by a phone that won't ring, There’s a garden that’s dying in the middle of spring. How do we tell them their love was a "risk"? That their final "I love you" was cut from the list? The cruelty of order, the ice in the law, It didn’t see people, it just saw a flaw. They died in the quiet, they died all alone, In a kingdom of paper on a heartless throne. (Bridge) Can you see them? Walking in the fields where the rules can’t reach? Can you hear them? In the crash of the wave on the edge of the beach? They are more than the error, they are more than the grief, They are the ache in the chest that finds no relief. (Guitar Solo - Slow, weeping, building to a scream) (Chorus) Oh, let the ground tremble, let the sky start to cry, For the thousands who never said goodbye. They weren't just a "measure," they weren't just a "case," They were a laugh, and a secret, and a soft, loving face. The rule was a hammer, the rule was a blade, And we’re left in the ruin of the choices they made. God, hear the silence, it’s screaming your name, For the lives that were burned and not changed. (Outro) Lay down the gavel. Put out the light. The rule is a ghost in the middle of night. But the love... Oh, the love is a fire they can't put away. We’re holding your spirit. We’re shouting your name. Every single one. Every single one

The Choices They Made