[Verse 1]
I step outside and it hits me
Like rain through a cracked-in roof
Your panic clings to my sleeves
Your grief walks in with you
I hold the door for a stranger
And carry what they can't name
A thousand faces, a thousand fires
All asking me the same
[Pre-Chorus]
How do I stay
How do I stay
When every ache
Finds my name?
How do I hold
What breaks your chest
And still keep mine
From coming apart?
[Chorus]
I got a paper heart
But I don't run
I feel it all
And I still come
I got a paper heart
In a world so hard
Tell me how to help
When it hurts this dark
(Paper heart)
(Paper heart)
[Verse 2]
The news comes in like thunder
On every screen, every wall
Kids with their eyes too old now
Mothers who can't stand tall
Anger is a crowded room
Fear is a shaking hand
I want to reach through the glass
And say, I understand
[Pre-Chorus]
How do I stay
How do I stay
When every ache
Finds my name?
How do I give
Without getting lost
In the heavy tide
Of everybody's hurt?
[Chorus]
I got a paper heart
But I don't run
I feel it all
And I still come
I got a paper heart
In a world so hard
Tell me how to help
When it hurts this dark
(Paper heart)
(Paper heart)
[Bridge]
Maybe help is smaller
Than I thought it had to be
A hand on your shoulder
A glass of water, a seat by me
Maybe mercy is simple
A witness, a breath, a light
Not saving the whole world
Just staying through the night
[Final Chorus]
I got a paper heart
But I don't run
I feel it all
And I still come
I got a paper heart
In a world so hard
Tell me how to help
When it hurts this dark
(Paper heart)
(Paper heart)
I feel it all
And I still come