I Didn’t Cause the Consequences

[Verse 1]

Some days I know exactly What happened and what it meant Then I picture what could happen to you And I question it again

Suddenly I’m counting seconds Looking for a softer way Maybe if I make it smaller I can lessen what’s at stake Maybe if I carry some I can take some weight away From knowing that the truth I told Could change your life someday

But my memory isn’t changing When my certainty comes and goes I’m not questioning what happened I’m struggling with what it could cost

[Pre-Chorus]

I spent so long confusing Telling truth with causing pain Like holding you responsible Meant I somehow caused the change

I didn’t write this ending I didn’t put us in this place The truth can have consequences Without the truth being to blame

[Chorus]

I can care what happens to you Without carrying what you chose I can have compassion for you Without making smaller what I know

I can wish this never happened
Wish I never had to choose
Between protecting what becomes of you
And finally telling the truth

I didn’t cause the consequences By finally saying what I knew The truth didn’t make your choices It only brought them into view

[Verse 2]

Part of me still wants to protect you And I hate admitting that Like caring what becomes of you Means I have to take it back

So my mind starts making bargains Maybe it was not that bad Maybe I’m remembering too much Maybe I should leave it in the past

But making something smaller Doesn’t make it any less true It only makes it easier To survive what I already knew

[Pre-Chorus]

I thought guilt meant I was wrong Thought compassion meant I lied Like I couldn’t want accountability And still hurt for the other side

But hurting for what happens to you Doesn’t make what happened untrue I can wish you’d chosen differently Without taking blame from you

[Chorus]

I can care what happens to you Without carrying what you chose I can have compassion for you Without making smaller what I know

I didn’t cause the consequences By finally telling what I knew The truth did not create your choices It only brought them into view

[Bridge]

Now I remember the whole story
Not just the ending I once blamed
I remember what I knew before
I learned to carry shame And every time the weight gets heavy
My mind goes searching through the past
For some detail I can soften
Some reason not to call it that If the problem lived inside me Maybe I could change the end Find some way to save myself And somehow still protect you then

But making myself responsible
Won’t make the cost disappear
Now my only responsibility
Is telling what is true Whatever follows after that
Is not mine to choose

[Breakdown]

I didn’t ruin your future By telling them my past

I didn’t create the damage By finally calling it that

I didn’t hand you consequences
I didn’t decide what comes next The rest
Is not mine to correct 
I don’t have to make it smaller
Just because the truth has weight I can grieve what this may cost you
without taking on the blame I can hate that we are here Wish there were another way But caring what happens to you, doesn’t make it mine to take

[Final Chorus]

I can care what happens to you Without carrying what you chose I can have compassion for you Without making smaller what I know

I can wish there were no consequences Wish none of this were true But wishing I could spare you Doesn’t make them mine to undo

I spent so long confusing Telling truth with causing pain But holding you responsible Doesn’t make the truth to blame

I told the truth. That’s all I did.

Whatever follows Belongs to what you did.

[Outro]

Maybe some days I’ll minimize it When the weight becomes too much Maybe my mind will make it smaller When the truth feels hard to touch

But the story isn’t changing When my ability to hold it does

I didn’t cause the consequences.

I told the truth About what caused them.