Borrowed Shells

Lyrics

[Introduction] [Verse 1] There’s a low tide memory Where I used to hide away In a house I didn’t build But I swore would never change It was small, but it was safe It was weathered, it was worn Every scrape upon its surface Kept me through another storm I wore it like a second skin Like a promise I could keep Never knowing I was growing Even underneath [Pre-Chorus] Then one day the walls got closer Though they never moved at all I thought something must be broken… Maybe I was just too tall [Chorus] The shell was never lying It really was my home But love sometimes looks like leaving When staying keeps you small Don’t mistake a smaller shell For a smaller soul Sometimes you have to back away To find the room to grow So let the shoreline tell What I couldn’t tell myself I was never lying, I was just trying To fit inside a borrowed shell [Verse 2] There’s a strange kind of homesickness For a place you’ve outgrown Where every corner still remembers Someone you no longer know I can miss the way it held me Without wishing I’d stayed Some chapters aren’t abandoned… They’re completed when we change I don’t owe that shell forever But I’ll always owe it thanks It held me until I fit no more— Then taught me how to leave [Pre-Chorus 2] Now I know that every shelter Has a season and a name Some are built to help you find yourself… Some are built to help you change [Chorus] The shell was never lying It really was my home But love sometimes looks like leaving When staying keeps you small Don’t mistake a smaller shell For a smaller soul Sometimes you have to back away To find the room to grow So let the shoreline tell What I couldn’t tell myself I was never lying, I was just trying To fit inside a borrowed shell [Bridge] Every shell was once salvation Every season was sincere I don’t have to hate the person Who carried me to here I can thank the home that held me Even if I cannot stay Every shell I left behind Saved my life at least one day The hardest part was never leaving… It was standing in between— With no shell around my shoulders, Wondering who I’d be. But the tide never apologizes For the shore it leaves behind. Maybe every backward step Is just another way to find The next horizon. [Breakdown] Every shell I ever wore Fit the heart I had before Every tide that pulled away Made another place to stay [Final Chorus] The shell was never lying It really was my home But love sometimes looks like leaving When staying keeps you small Don’t mistake a smaller shell For a smaller soul Sometimes you have to back away To find the room to grow So let the shoreline tell What I couldn’t tell myself I was never lying, I was just trying To fit inside a borrowed shell [Outro] If you find one on the shoreline Empty in the morning swell Don’t call it something left behind… Call it proof Something lived there well.