The Flour Tin

Lyrics

[Verse 1] You kept the letters in the flour tin Behind the recipe cards and safety pins I found my name in a handwriting I knew A whole locked room that belonged to you You said the past was a harmless place But every answer wore your face I watched your hands fold the kitchen towel Like you could press the truth back down [Pre-Chorus] I would have carried it with you If you had let me in Now every tender thing you gave me Has a question underneath [Chorus] Mother, why did you make me love a lie? Why did you teach my heart to close its eyes? I was your shelter, I was on your side You held me close and kept the knife behind I still want you, and that’s the cruelest part You built your house inside my heart [Verse 2] The old blue car, the winter coat The name you never let me quote You called it mercy, called it keeping peace But silence grew teeth underneath I hear your voice when I defend you Then hear my own ask what you knew There’s no clean villain in this family Just broken people choosing secrecy [Pre-Chorus] I would have stood beside you Through every ugly year But you made me doubt my memory Then asked me not to fear [Chorus] Mother, why did you make me love a lie? Why did you teach my heart to close its eyes? I was your shelter, I was on your side You held me close and kept the knife behind I still want you, and that’s the cruelest part You built your house inside my heart [Bridge] Don’t say you did it for my future Don’t turn the lock and call it care I needed truth more than protection I needed you to meet me there If I forgive you, it won’t be forgetting If I leave, it doesn’t mean I’m cold I’m taking back the parts you buried I’m becoming someone you can’t control [Final Chorus] Mother, I won’t make a home from lies I won’t inherit how you hide your life I loved you deeply, I can’t make that untrue But love is not a debt I owe to you I still want you, but I choose my heart You don’t get to keep the hidden parts [Outro] The flour tin is empty now The kitchen is quiet somehow I leave the letters in the open air And learn that truth can still be there