STILL YOUR DADDY

(T SYD) (Gen ct) (Sub ft/dad) (BPM 78) (Key F) (M ld) (F hm) (Mood redemp)

(Intro) (ac gtr) (808 lt) (pad)

(V1)
I ain’t here to play perfect, I’ve messed up more than once
Chased work, chased love, chased bottles tryin’ to numb
But there’s one thing I never dropped, not one single day
The way I whisper both your names at night when I pray

I remember tiny tennis shoes kicked up on my dash
Windows down, singin’ off-key, laughin’ till we crashed
Not the metal, just the moment when the song ran out of road
Didn’t know one day that’s how this whole story’d go

(PC1)
They can call me selfish, they can call me wrong
They can say I disappeared, like I was never strong
But there’s a truth that don’t change even when I’m not ready
No matter where I’m standin’… I’m still your daddy

(CH1)
I’m still your daddy, even when the phone don’t ring
Even when your picture’s just a cracked screen memory thing
Even if you think I chose the world instead of you
Baby, if you only knew the hell that put me through

I’m still your daddy, every mile I ever drove
Every tear behind the wheel that you will never know
You can write me out the story, fade me in the attic
Nothing you could ever do could make me not your daddy

(V2)
I see posts of birthdays I watched from far away
You in cap and gown, and I ain’t there that day
I hit like and scroll on, ’cause what else can I do?
Try to smile, but I’m dying ’cause I wanted that with you

I ain’t askin’ you to fix the choices that I made
Just hopin’ one day you see more than my mistakes
If the man you end up lovin’ ever breaks your heart in two
I pray to God he’s nothing like the younger me you knew

(PC2)
When the noise dies down and it’s just you and the dark
If you ever go searchin’ where you got your stubborn heart
You can find me in the mirror, in the temper, in the steady
And in the way I never quit, ’cause I’m still your daddy

(CH2)
I’m still your daddy, even when I’m not around
When my boots ain’t leavin’ prints in your hometown ground
Even if they told you I walked off and didn’t care
Truth is I was on the other side of doors that weren’t fair

I’m still your daddy, through the distance and the doubt
Through the years we never got to work this whole thing out
If the only thing I get to be is the man who loves you badly
I’ll wear that crown of broken, long as I’m still your daddy

(BR)
One day if you’re drivin’ and this song comes on the dial
And some part of my voice feels like a childhood mile
Just know behind the melody, behind the steel and caddy
There’s a man who never stopped bein’ your broken-hearted daddy

(CH3)
I’m still your daddy, that won’t ever change
Not a courtroom, not a rumor, not time or last names
If you ever need a place to fall when life turns savage
You don’t even have to knock… come home to your daddy, I’m still your daddy

(Outro)
(ac gtr) (str swell) (vox adlib “still your daddy, still your daddy”) (fade)

Gritty male vocal, soft verses, big chorus. Modern country mix: ac gtr, steel, light 808. Emotional, powerful.