I Loved You While You Were Leaving

Verse 1 I thought love was patient Thought it learns to understand So I swallowed every silence Every distance in your hands You’d pull me close, then disappear Call it space, then call it fear And I’d trace the shape of you While you were barely even here You never had to say it Your distance said enough You made confusion feel like love While I kept calling it us I kept choosing you in moments You were already gone I was building something real You were just holding on

Pre-Chorus I thought I was sitting in the silence with you But I was sitting there alone I kept trying to reach you You were already gone

Chorus I loved you while you were leaving While you were learning to let me go I stayed when I felt you slipping But you had already let me go You kept me close when it was easy But distant when it got too real I was fighting for something growing While you were choosing not to feel You didn’t say it, you just showed me In every pause, every delay I was loving you in full color While you were fading into gray

Verse 2 You didn’t have to leave me You just had to stay the same You felt safe enough to need me But not enough to keep You made it feel like patience Like love just needed time So I kept bending parts of me To keep you in my life You never had to say it Your distance did enough You made confusion feel like love And I just called it us I kept rewriting everything To match what you became Holding onto who you were While you slowly slipped away I remember every moment My body tried to speak Every time I felt the shift But still chose you over me I kept trying to fix it You kept pulling away I was building something lasting You were just passing through my days

Pre-Chorus I thought love meant staying So I stayed through every sign You were slowly letting go While I was holding on for life

Chorus I loved you while you were leaving While you were learning to let me go I stayed when I felt you slipping But you had already let me go I stood there taking your bullets Turned every wound into “I know” I made excuses for your silence You never had to show I would’ve chosen you for life You couldn’t choose me once though I kept calling it patience You kept telling me to go But real love doesn’t watch you bleed And tell you that’s just how it goes

Bridge I didn’t dodge a bullet I stood there, took every shot Thinking if I loved you harder You’d become someone you’re not I learned to call it patience You learned to call it done You had weeks to leave me slowly I only had the moment you were gone You knew I wouldn’t walk away You knew I’d try to understand So you gave less and less of you While I kept holding it in my hands You didn’t have to say the truth You let me slowly figure it out And that’s the part that stays with me More than you leaving now And maybe one day it’ll hit you In a quiet, empty room That I was everything you needed At a time you couldn’t choose And you’ll remember how I held you Without making you feel small And realize I wasn’t asking too much You just weren’t ready at all I was learning how to love you You were learning how to leave You felt safe enough to need me …but not enough to keep

Final Chorus I loved you while you were leaving Before you ever said goodbye Before I had the words for it I felt it every night You didn’t break me in a moment You did it slow so I wouldn’t see And that’s the part that stays with me You were gone… But still holding me I stood there taking your bullets Thinking love meant sacrifice But real love doesn’t watch you bleed And call that love in your eyes And I don’t hate you for leaving I hate how you stayed Long enough to be loved deeply Without loving me that way You didn’t lose me all at once You lost me long before the end And I was still there loving you While you were learning to pretend And that’s the part that stays with me You stopped choosing me before you left me I didn’t lose you when you left I lost you
 while you were still mine