I loved the smile behind your sadness,
The light you tried so hard to hide.
I wanted to be your shelter, baby,
The place where you could lay your pride.
I never came here half-hearted,
Never held you with one foot outside.
I dreamed of waking up beside you,
With nothing left for us to hide.
But every time I reached to hold you,
Your ghosts came running through the door.
And I kept giving you my heart, girl,
Till I couldn't give no more.
I can love you and still let you go,
God knows it's the hardest thing I've ever known.
I can wish you were here beside me,
And still know I can't keep holding on.
I gave you my heart, I gave you my truth,
I tried to be the safest place for you.
But who's gonna hold me when I'm breaking too?
Who's gonna love me the way I loved you?
I can love you...
And still let you go.
I know the world has left you wounded,
I know you've learned to fear goodbye.
And I would never blame you, baby,
For the tears you never show your eyes.
But I can't keep fighting with your memories,
Can't keep proving what is true.
I'm not the man who came before me,
But I'm losing the man I am with you.
And when I hurt, I bite my tongue, girl,
Afraid my pain will start a storm.
I became the one who held you,
But who holds me when I'm worn?
I don't need you to be perfect,
I don't need a love without scars.
I just need to know there's room for me
Inside the heart I'm giving you, heart and all.
I can love you and still let you go,
God knows it's the hardest thing I've ever known.
I can miss the warmth of your body,
And still know this ain't where I belong.
I gave you my heart, I gave you my truth,
I tried to be the safest place for you.
But who's gonna hold me when I'm breaking too?
Who's gonna love me the way I loved you?
I can love you...
And still let you go.
Baby, this ain't punishment.
I'm not leaving out of spite.
I'm just tired of losing pieces
Of myself to keep us right.
I can't heal the hands that hurt you,
Can't undo the things you've known.
I can walk beside you, love you,
But I can't do your healing on my own.
And God, I wish that love was enough.
I wish we'd found another way.
'Cause the hardest kind of goodbye
Is when your heart still wants to stay.
I still love you, baby.
That's what makes this hurt so much.
I can love you and still let you go,
Even with a thousand words I never told.
Even when the nights get lonely,
Even when I miss the life we almost owned.
I gave you my heart, I gave you my truth,
And I'll always keep the beautiful parts of you.
But I can't keep drowning just to pull us through.
I deserve a love that holds me too.
I can love you...
I can want you...
I can pray that life is kind to you...
And still let you go.
May you find the peace you've been searching for,
May you feel safe enough to love once more.
I'll never say that what we had wasn't real...
I just can't keep breaking
To prove what I feel.
I love you, baby...
But tonight, for once,
I'm choosing me.
