With a Softer View

[Verse 1]
You left your record in the summer heat
Side B warped where the needle caught
I kept the hiss, not the melody
For longer than I thought

[Pre-Chorus]
Some names still turn my head around
Some dates still taste like rain
But I can let the old songs end
Without calling them a mistake

[Chorus]
Goodbye to the loves I outgrew
To the almosts I carried through
You were real, you were bright, you were true
And I’m not who I was with you
So goodbye, with a softer view
I keep the good; I release the bruise

[Verse 2]
At the corner store, that old red label
Still brings your laugh back clear
I don’t have to buy the past again
Just because it’s standing here

[Pre-Chorus]
I can wish you well from where I am
And mean it when I say
The heart can close a chapter gently
Then turn the page another way

[Chorus]
Goodbye to the loves I outgrew
To the almosts I carried through
You were real, you were bright, you were true
And I’m not who I was with you
So goodbye, with a softer view
I keep the good; I release the bruise

[Bridge]
No villain in the ending
No debt to reconcile
Just two lives changing tempo
For a little while

[Final Chorus]
Goodbye to the loves I outgrew
To the almosts I carried through
You were real, you were bright, you were true
And I’m not who I was with you
So goodbye, with a softer view
I keep the good; I release the bruise
[Outro]
I keep the good
I let you go