Bend, Don't Break

Love

So nice, it don't get easier

You just get stronger

This one's for her

Uh, free age in the kitchen, life's the only thing still burnin'

Stack of pastels on the counter got my stomach turnin'

Learning every lesson twice, ′cause the first time cost me

Every throw I ever knocked on just shrugged and tossed me

Bossy voices in my head saying, quit while you can

But I can't, ′cause there's a little girl who thinks I′m Superman

So I stand even when my knees are shaking underneath

Swallow every bit of doubt and smile through my teeth

Breathing death and setbacks, yeah, they pile up in the hallway

Halls close in, but I've been working this way all day

Small pay, long hours, bigger dreams in my wallet

Call it stunting, call it crazy, I just call it a promise

So you bend, don't break when the weight comes down

Keep your feet movin' even when you can't see ground

'Cause she's gonna be here long after I'm gone

So I carry it, I bury it, and I keep on

You can bend, don't break, that's the only rule I know

When the weight gets wicked, let it blow, let it blow

Every star got some steps you won't have to take

So I bend, I bend, but I don't break

Life'll hit you with a left-hand and watch you for the right

Take your money, take your money, take a seat in that

Fight or flight and I was built for the first one

Once was never really over, it's the next one, the worst one

Verse through, bruised up, still I'm showing up

G's in the backseat singing and I'm holding up

Going up's a funny thing, I thought I'd have it figured

But every year the stakes get higher and the bills get bigger

Trigger happy world, it'll shoot at your plans

So I build them out of iron with my own two hands

Understand this ain't for me, I'm just a bridge she's crossing

Every peak I lay is one less place she'll be lost in

So your band don't break when the weight comes down

Keep your feet moving even when you can't see ground

'Cause she's gonna be here long after I'm gone

So I carry it, I bury it, and I keep on

'Cause one day I'll be a picture on a shelf in a hall

And she'll tell her kids he never let the whole thing fall

Through it all, through the floods and the fire and the frost

Through the nights I counted pennies and I counted the cars

Lost my way a couple times, but I never lost her

That's the compass, that's the reason, that's the North Star

Partner, harder days are coming, I ain't naive

To the weather, but a tree that knows how to sway outlasts

It's gone forever, whatever it takes, I'll take it, break the chains

Not me, plant the seed, let it grow into the shade I'll never see

Free, that's the bird, that's the gift, that's the trade

I'll give every single breath so she's never afraid

So you bend, don't break when the weight comes down

Keep your feet moving even when you can't see ground

'Cause he's gonna be here long after I'm gone

So I tarry it, I parry it, and I keep on

If you bend, don't break, that's the only rule I know

When the weight gets wicked, let it go, let it go

Every star gots a step she won't have to take

So I