[Verse 1]
I learned the room too well
How a smile could hide a knife
How the hand that held me close
Could leave me out in the night
I kept my stories in my chest
Like coins under loose floorboards
Every time I reached to speak
I heard the door slam more and more
They said, "Tell me what's inside"
But I seen what truth can cost
One bad promise, one cold stare
And a little kid gets lost
So I nodded, kept my mouth shut
Held my breath till it turned stone
If I ever looked too hurt
They would leave me all alone
[Pre-Chorus]
So I folded up my voice
Like a letter never sent
And the fear sat on my tongue
Till the words all bent
[Chorus]
I went quiet to survive
(quiet to survive)
I went quiet to survive
(tried to keep my mind alive)
Too much pain, too many lies
(too many lies)
Now I flinch before I try
I went quiet to survive
[Verse 2]
Every betrayal left a mark
Not on skin, but in my trust
Now I read a passing face
Like a threat behind the dust
In the backseat, in the kitchen
In the hall with the cracked lamp glow
I had questions on my lips
But I buried them below
I was once the kid who ran
Into arms with open hands
Now I watch before I move
Trying hard to understand
If I open up too fast
Will you use it like a blade?
So I keep my whole heart locked
And I hate the cage I made
[Pre-Chorus]
I keep saying I'm okay
But my voice don't cross the line
It's a house with all the doors
Boarded up from time to time
[Chorus]
I went quiet to survive
(quiet to survive)
I went quiet to survive
(tried to keep my mind alive)
Too much pain, too many lies
(too many lies)
Now I flinch before I try
I went quiet to survive
[Bridge]
If you hear me sound far away
That's the scar, not who I am
I'm still here beneath the hurt
Trying to become a man
But the past keeps pulling hard
Like a chain around my name
And I miss the way I used to trust
Before I learned the shape of pain
[Chorus]
I went quiet to survive
(quiet to survive)
I went quiet to survive
(tried to keep my mind alive)
Too much pain, too many lies
(too many lies)
Now I flinch before I try
I went quiet to survive
[Outro]
If I whisper, let me
If I fall apart, stay near
I got lost inside the hurt
But I'm still fighting fear
(I'm still fighting fear)