Last To Leave The Fire

[Verse 1]
They carved your face in the mountain
But forgot how your voice used to shake
You laughed in the teeth of the cannon
Then came home too broken to break
They sing of the battles you carried
Not the bottle you carried instead
All of the flags on the courthouse
Never once asked how you bled
[Chorus]
You were a legend to them
But a ghost to yourself
Last to leave the fire
First to put your heart on the shelf
They built you a story
You couldn’t live up to
Now every time they praise your name
It sounds like it’s killing you
[Verse 2]
They tell all the kids you were fearless
They don’t mention the nights that you cried
Sitting up straight in the kitchen
Afraid of your own swollen pride
Your armor still hangs in the hallway
Dust on the dents and the seams
Sometimes it clatters at midnight
Like it’s shaking out all of your screams
[Chorus]
You were a legend to them
But a ghost to yourself
Last to leave the fire
First to put your heart on the shelf
They built you a story
You couldn’t live up to
Now every time they praise your name
It sounds like it’s killing you
[Bridge]
Did you want to be holy
Or just finally get some sleep? (oh)
They turned your hurt into glory
Left you the wounds to keep
And I light a match in the doorway
Whisper
“I know what is true”
Behind every tale of a hero
Is a child nobody knew
[Chorus]
You were a legend to them
But a ghost to yourself
Last to leave the fire
First to put your heart on the shelf
They built you a story
You couldn’t live up to
So I’ll stop them singing your name tonight
And just sit in the dark
With you

Moody indie ballad with male vocals; fingerpicked acoustic guitar and distant piano, low drones like wind through an empty hall. Verses stay hushed and close-mic’d; chorus blooms with reverb-heavy harmonies and floor-tom swells. Subtle strings creep in on the bridge, then everything falls back to near-silence on the final line., sad