The Ghost of Us

Lyrics: (Verse 1) We were just kids cutting corners in the dark Doing stupid things, trying to strike a spark Laughing on the street corners, running from the rain Never thinking life could bring a real kind of pain Then we moved in, skipped a couple of pages Growing up too fast in all the wrong stages Suddenly the innocence was packed in a crate And we were staring down a brand new date (Verse 2) Two pink lines and the world started spinning You were sick on the floor, I was barely winning Nine long months of a heavy, dark cloud The apartment was quiet, but the silence was loud I froze in the shock, I didn't know what to do Paralyzed by fear while the pressure grew When you needed a man to step up and guide I was just a boy trying to find a place to hide (Pre-Chorus) And the weight of the world was a baseline acoustic drone Two children in the dark trying to build a home But the foundation cracked before the walls went up And we poured all our youth into a broken cup (Chorus) And I never really got past the ghost of us Buried under the panic and the moving truck Now I’m looking back through a wider lens At the choices I made and the way it had to end Yeah, I left that room, and I walked away But a piece of my heart’s still stuck in yesterday (Verse 3) He was finally born, a little light in the room But the storm followed close with a shadow of doom We had to pack the bags, hit the highway lines Moving place to place, running out of time The stress tore the seams, and we broke right apart A bitter, sharp ending to a fragile start But we couldn't let go, so we forced it back tight And checked into a motel in the middle of the night (Verse 4) That was the bottom, that was the cold gray wall Living out of suitcases with nowhere left to fall The worst of our days spent in a twelve-by-twelve room Just waiting for the gavel of the final doom We got kicked out, put our pride in the dirt Carrying the bags and a whole lot of hurt Lived in a friend's house, sleeping on the floor Trying to survive until we found our own door (Pre-Chorus) Yeah, we got a new key, thought the worst was all done But the damage was deep, and the damage had won The air was too heavy, the kitchen too cold And the story we started was getting too old (Chorus) And I never really got past the ghost of us Buried under the panic and the moving truck Now I’m looking back through a wider lens At the choices I made and the way it had to end Yeah, I left that room, and I walked away But a piece of my heart’s still stuck in yesterday (Bridge) The hardest part of growing up is looking in the glass And counting up the mistakes that you can't un-pass I look back at the kid that I used to be And I hate that he couldn't see what you needed to see I wasn't helpful then, I didn't hold your hand I let the fear take the wheel instead of making a stand But when the smoke cleared out and the dust finally fell I had to become the man that could break through the shell (Guitar Solo / Instrumental Break) (Verse 5) Because the door closed behind me when I walked out that day But the story didn't end when I drifted away The hand of fate turned, and the tables got spun And I woke up to a life where it was just me and our son I took the reins when the road got bare And I've been raising him alone, just trying to be there Most of his life, it's been his hand in mine Rebuilding a soul, one day at a time (Outro) I carry the regret like a heavy winter coat Writing out the apologies I never quite wrote I hope you’re finding peace wherever you landed tonight I'm still learning how to make my old wrongs right Yeah, we did some stupid things back when we were young... Now I'm singing the verses that we left unsung. I’m so sorry for the kid I was. I never really got over it.