What You Labelled Love - Lyric Video (CW: Psychological Abuse)

On Spotify now! I posted the instrumental version of this 10 months ago, never thinking I'd ever get around to singing it. The lyrics are... kind of dark, and they're definitely more cryptic than my first draft (where did all the bee imagery come from??) but working on this thing was therapeutic to say the least LYRICS: You took my life away but now I want it back I’ve lost a thousand wars to one panic attack And still I stayed with a reputation marred You said it’s not a prison cuz there’s space between the bars You threw me sticks and stones And then expected me to grow You fed me to the roaring waves For every small mistake I was your medicine You laughed at falling tears Then labeled this as love The chains absorbed my fear You told me to breathe in But I couldn’t see your Dangerous apathy Right in front of me You claimed you were the queen and That’s what I believed Because I was in need I got caught up in the scene You say that we’re home safe and sound But those words are burning houses to the ground Locked in apiaries thriving off our youth My screams can shatter glass but your walls are bulletproof You took my silence as a buried plea To clip my wings in front of other honeybees And they were fine living in this broken hive; The smoke was filling up the room; don’t think my soul survived You threw me sticks and stones And then expected me to grow You fed me to the roaring waves For every small mistake I was your medicine You laughed at falling tears Then labeled this as love The chains absorbed my fear You told me to breathe So I wouldn’t leave Fading empathy You let my bleed You’re not my queen You glorified the pain behind my dying eyes I couldn’t suffocate without hurting your pride Forced me to smile but my joy just made you frown You blocked me from the surface then blamed me when I drowned