I Loved You While You Were Leaving · Track 07
For when you would’ve loved every part they were afraid to show you, but you couldn’t convince them they were safe enough to be seen.
Inside this song
Why wasn’t loving them exactly as they were enough to make them let me in?
You can offer someone acceptance without being able to make them receive it. Another person’s difficulty with vulnerability isn’t something your love can solve by becoming more patient, understanding, or devoted.
“I would’ve loved you where no one dared, I would’ve stayed, I was already there”
For when the heartbreak wasn’t discovering their hidden parts, but realizing they never trusted love enough to let you stay beside them there.
Read the full storyLyric sheet
You built your walls from shame and scars, Said love would break you, cut too far. But I saw the boy you tried to hide, The one who whispered, "I'll never be enough inside." [Pre-Chorus] Every time I reached for you, you pulled away, Not 'cause I couldn't love, but 'cause you couldn't stay. And it broke me down, yeah, it ripped me apart, To be punished for wanting to know your heart. [Chorus] You were worthy - even in the shadows, I would've loved you in the dark, in the hollow. In the shame, in the cracks, in the places no one stayed, I would've chosen you anyway. But your fear turned love into war, And your sabotage left me bleeding on the floor. You'll never know the love I carried there - 'Cause I would've loved you.... I would've loved you there. [Verse 2] You built a coffin out of silence, Buried every chance we had alive. I offered love in broken places, You chose your shame, and made me pay the price. [Pre-Chorus] You thought l'd see the broken and run away, But I was the one who begged you to stay. Still, you left me questioning my worth, When all I wanted was to love you through the hurt. [Chorus] You were worthy - even in the shadows, I would've loved you in the dark, in the hollow. In the shame, in the cracks, in the places no one stayed, I would ve chosen you anyway. But your fear turned love into war, And your sabotage left me bleeding on the floor. You'll never know the love I carried there 'Cause I would've loved you... I would've loved you there. [Bridge] But you chose the safety of silence, Over the risk of my defiance. You rejected yourself before I ever could, Didn't believe in the love I swore I would. [Final Chorus]
You were worthy - but you couldn't believe, So you left me haunted, tangled in grief. I would've loved you where no one dared, I would've stayed... I was already there. But your fear built a cage, locked from the inside, And I won't keep waiting where love goes to die. So I'm taking back the pieces you couldn't repair - 'Cause I would've loved you, God, I would've loved you there.
About the song
For when you would’ve loved every part they were afraid to show you, but you couldn’t convince them they were safe enough to be seen.
The story behind
I wrote this song about loving someone who seemed convinced that if I ever saw the parts of him he was ashamed of, I would leave. But the heartbreaking part was that I already saw them. I saw the fear underneath the distance. I saw the insecurity underneath the walls. I saw the parts he tried so hard to protect, and none of them made me love him less. I wasn’t asking him to become some perfect version of himself before I could love him. I would’ve loved him there, in the messy parts, the scared parts, the parts he thought made him unlovable.
For a long time, I thought if I could just make him understand that, maybe he would finally feel safe enough to let me in. Instead, his fear of being known became the very thing that kept us from ever really knowing each other. And somewhere along the way, I started questioning my own worth because someone else couldn't receive the love I was trying to give.
That’s what this song eventually taught me: you can love someone exactly where they are and still not be able to reach them there. Someone can be worthy of love and still be unable to accept it. You can understand why they built their walls without spending your life standing outside of them. I would’ve loved him there. But I finally realized I didn’t have to stay there.
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