Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I ain’t perfect, but I’m trying — that should count for something
I came from nothin’, father was gone or high off somethin’
Mom did her best, but pain was my inheritance
Slept in cars and couches — never had no inheritance
You grew up with love, I grew up with loss
You had a team behind you, I had to carry my cross
You judge me off mistakes, but don’t measure the cost
You had a plate, I had scraps, tell me who’s really lost?

[Pre-Chorus]
I was broken, I was searching, I was cold
You were a roof, a smile — a place I could hold
Maybe I lied to myself, thought a baby meant home
But now I’m shut out, and I'm stuck watching him grown from a distance knowing dam well if I could I'd be there in a instant


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[Chorus] (sung)
Don’t use our son to punish me
He’s not a weapon, he’s not your property
I ain’t the man I used to be
Why you blind to the fight it took for me to breathe?
I know I’ve made you mad
But don’t take it out on our little man
You had your family — I had to stand
On shattered ground just to say:
Let me be his dad


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[Verse 2]
I never had a blueprint on how to be a man
All I had was pain and a half-empty hand
Still I built from nothin’, got a job, got a plan
But every time I show up, you draw another line in the sand
You say “my son” like he ain’t half me
Erase my name like I ain’t got love that runs deep
You got silver spoons, I had trauma that cuts
But you never tried to understand, just labeled me “too much”
Your brother looked at me like dirt on his shoe
But I held my tongue — I made a promise I’d never do
What my father did — end up in a cell
I’d rather suffer in silence than raise my boy from hell


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[Bridge] (spoken/rap)
Yeah, you raised him right — I won’t take that away
He’s got a smile that shines, you gave him good days
But he’s got my blood, too — he needs both sides
Even if you hate me, don’t feed him that lie
Let me show him what it means to fight through the dark
What it means to rise from a broken start
You got family to catch you when you fall
I only had him — now you won't take my call


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[Chorus] (sung)
Don’t use our son to punish me
He’s not a pawn in your jealousy
I ain’t the man I used to be
Let him see the battle it took just to be free
I know I’ve made you mad
But don’t make him carry that
You had your family — I had to stand
With nothing but hope in my hand
Let me be his dad


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[Outro]
I’m not asking for your love
Just a chance to be enough
You got him through the start, now let me help him rise
A son deserves his father in his life
Please... let me be his dad.