Forty Candles, One Small Cake

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Forty candles, one small cake A quiet house that I can take I used to call it staying strong When every sign said, “This is wrong” I learned love early as a chore: Give a little, give some more I thought if I could heal your hurt We’d both come home from all that dirt [Pre-Chorus] I stayed to see the last of last Held the door against the past Like if I loved you past the end The girl in me could mend [Chorus] I loved you like love could save us Like the right hands could change the past I kept giving, kept believing Till there wasn’t much of me left to ask Now I’m alone with all this living And the lesson has no simple name Maybe you were part of the picture Not the whole frame [Verse 2] There’s a drawer of little proofs Old receipts and borrowed truths A photograph where I look sure I know that face; I’m not her anymore I won’t shame the heart that tried Or call it foolish for its faith She was making shelter out of love With what she had, with what she knew [Pre-Chorus] I stayed to see the last of last Made a home inside the past But leaving doesn’t make it clear What I’m meant to do from here [Chorus] I loved you like love could save us Like the right hands could change the past I kept giving, kept believing Till there wasn’t much of me left to ask Now I’m alone with all this living And the lesson has no simple name Maybe you were part of the picture Not the whole frame [Bridge] If all this pain was meant to teach me Why am I still unsure? I know what I survived now I don’t know what comes after the door I can be grateful for the knowing And still grieve what it cost A life can turn a corner Before it knows what it has lost [Final Chorus] I loved you like love could save us And I see why I believed I kept giving, kept believing Till I finally chose to leave Now I’m alone with all this living Taking one day as it came Maybe you were part of the picture Maybe I can draw the frame [Outro] Forty candles, one small cake A quiet life I get to make