The Copy You Made

Lyrics

[Verse 1] You kept my first name folded in a drawer Beneath old receipts and a broken watch I learned the shape of your silence Before I learned the shape of my thoughts You said I was lucky, said I was chosen But never said what I had been made from Every birthday candle burned blue Like a warning you refused to name [Pre-Chorus] I saw your hands inside my hands The same small scar, the same strange spark You called it fate when I asked you Then turned away and locked the dark [Chorus] Mother, why did you hide me from myself? Why let me wear your face with nobody else? I’m not your secret, I’m not your sin I’m the copy you made when the sky broke in If I came from you, then tell me what is true Was I born, was I built, was I borrowed from you? Mother, I can love you and still leave You don’t get to choose the truth I believe [Verse 2] There’s a room behind the kitchen wall Where the plaster hums when I get afraid I found the pictures under floorboards Every version of me that you erased Same silver eyes in a dozen frames Same pulse of light beneath the skin You weren’t raising a daughter You were hiding the evidence within [Pre-Chorus] You knew the stars had given me The part of you you couldn’t bear So you taught me never to ask questions Then called that protection, called it care [Chorus] Mother, why did you hide me from myself? Why let me wear your face with nobody else? I’m not your secret, I’m not your sin I’m the copy you made when the sky broke in If I came from you, then tell me what is true Was I born, was I built, was I borrowed from you? Mother, I can love you and still leave You don’t get to choose the truth I believe [Bridge] I won’t burn the house to prove I’m real I won’t become the wound you made me feel But every lie has a closing door And I’m not waiting there anymore You called me mirror, called me mistake I call myself by the name I make The same bright current under my skin But this life is mine to begin [Final Chorus] Mother, I was hidden, not erased I can carry your blood without carrying your blame I’m not your secret, I’m not your sin I’m the daughter who survived what you kept within If I came from you, I can still become More than the silence you were running from Mother, I can love you and still leave You don’t get to choose the truth I believe [Outro] The sky knows what you wouldn’t say Your little copy found her way I carry the spark, I carry the scar But I am not where you left me in the dark