House of Cards in the Dark

[Verse 1]
I kept the porch light burning
While I learned to lock the door
You brought your Sunday flowers
I hid the papers on the floor
I said the right things softly
I remembered every date
But there’s a stack of little lies
Leaning hard against the gate

[Pre-Chorus]
I want to call myself good
I want to mean it when I do
But every card I tucked away
Is leaning toward you

[Chorus]
I tried so hard to love you
I tried so hard to be kind
But this house I built from secrets
Is starting to unwind
If it falls, it falls between us
If it lands, it leaves a mark
I tried so hard to be good
With a house of cards in the dark

[Verse 2]
You laugh beside the sink now
With your sleeves rolled to the seam
I watch you trust the quiet
Like it’s something we both mean
There’s a name I never mentioned
There’s a night I rearranged
I can’t keep calling silence
Just another kind of grace

[Pre-Chorus]
I want to call myself good
I want to meet your eyes
But every card I tucked away
Is taller than my lies

[Chorus]
I tried so hard to love you
I tried so hard to be kind
But this house I built from secrets
Is starting to unwind
If it falls, it falls between us
If it lands, it leaves a mark
I tried so hard to be good
With a house of cards in the dark

[Bridge]
I could tell you in the kitchen
With the kettle screaming thin
I could watch your face go quiet
As the truth comes stumbling in
No clean hands, no pretty ending
No good reason I can claim
Just me, the door, the words I owe you
And the weight of my own name

[Final Chorus]
We tried so hard to love here
We tried so hard to be kind
But this house I built from secrets
Won’t stay standing this time
If it falls, I’ll stand beside you
I won’t hide behind the dark
I tried so hard to be good
Now I’m telling you the hard part

[Outro]
I’m telling you the hard part
I’m telling you the hard part