Daddy’s Shadow & Mamma’s Prayers

[Verse 1]  
Daddy kept his love locked up behind a welded door,  
Spoke in fists and silence, never needed nothing more.  
He said, “Boy, the world don’t care about the tears you hide,”  
Then showed me how to swallow pain and call it pride.  

Mama lit a candle every night I went to bed,  
Whispered to the angels, “Lord, protect his stubborn head.”  
She held my shaking hands like she could calm a hurricane,  
Told me God could heal the parts my daddy made into a blade.  

[Chorus]  
I grew up in Daddy’s shadow,  
But I survived on Mama’s prayers.  
One taught me how to take a hit,  
One taught me someone cares.  
I walked a line between the fire  
And the mercy waiting there,  
Half the man my daddy hardened,  
Half the boy my mama spared.  

[Verse 2]  
Daddy said emotions were a weakness you outgrow,  
“Don’t you ever let ‘em see the things you never show.”  
So I learned to keep my heart behind a barbed‑wire fence,  
And every time it bled, I called it “just experience.”  

Mama saw the bruises that I never let her name,  
Held me like a promise that I didn’t have to stay the same.  
She said, “Son, the world is cruel enough without your help,”  
But Daddy’s voice was louder, so I fought against myself.  

[Chorus]  
I grew up in Daddy’s shadow,  
But I survived on Mama’s prayers.  
One taught me how to take a hit,  
One taught me someone cares.  
I walked a line between the fire  
And the mercy waiting there,  
Half the man my daddy hardened,  
Half the boy my mama spared.  

[Bridge]  
Some nights I swear I hear them both  
Arguing inside my chest —  
One says, “Stand and fight the world,”  
One says, “Lay your burdens down and rest.”  
And I’m still learning which one’s right,  
Still learning who I am…  
A broken son of two good hearts  
Doing the best I can.  

[Final Chorus]  
I grew up in Daddy’s shadow,  
But I survived on Mama’s prayers.  
One carved me out of iron,  
One taught me love repairs.  
And if I ever find redemption  
Somewhere past these worn‑out years,  
It’ll be the man my daddy made me  
And the boy my mama spared.  

[Outro]  
Yeah, I’m still walking out that shadow…  
Still living off those prayers.

Country Deep Pain, Heavy Blues, Survival Dark