Nightlight

Lyrics

[Verse 1] I used to know the girl who laughed at nothing on the porch Now I fold the same three shirts and stack them in the drawer He's asleep before the ten o'clock, I'm wired past the news I sign my name on contracts in a kitchen full of blues [Verse 2] My daughter asked me Sunday why I'm always on the phone I said Mama's building something, but I couldn't say what for I missed her first step forward 'cause I flew to close a deal She took it in the kitchen, and I wasn't there to feel [Chorus] And I'm a good mother, I'm a good wife That's what I tell the mirror every single night But the woman in the window doesn't match the life I'm a good mother, I'm a good wife [Verse 3] The awards sit on the shelf beside the wedding photograph One I earned by leaving, one I'm scared will never last He says, You think you're better now, I say, I think I'm tired We don't fight, we just go quiet, room by room, wire by wire [Chorus] And I'm a good mother, I'm a good wife That's what I tell the mirror every single night But the woman in the window doesn't match the life I'm a good mother, I'm a good wife [Bridge] Some nights I drive the long way home and park outside the gate And practice saying, This is over, in a voice that doesn't shake Then I see her nightlight glowing, and I turn the engine off How do you leave a person when the leaving's not your fault? [Verse 4] I bought a yellow notebook, wrote my name on the first line Not "somebody's," not "so-and-so's" — just mine, just mine I don't know when I'll use it, but I keep it in my bag So the girl from the porch remembers who she was [Chorus] 'Cause I'm a good mother, I'm a good wife That's what I tell the mirror every single night But the woman in the window's gonna match the life I'm a good mother, I'm a good wife [Outro] I'm a good mother I'm a good wife And I'm still somebody On the other side