Debt of a Childhood

Intro

(Clean electric guitar plays a dark, repeating riff)

(Spoken quietly, with a tense, serious tone)

I’m sorry for what you went through.

I really am.

But they didn’t do it to you.

So why are they paying for it?

Verse 1

I feel the weight of the horrors that you had to survive

The shadows of a childhood just trying to stay alive

It’s a tragedy, a scar that you carry on your skin

But then you grew up, got married, let a new life in

Now you're dragging all your ghosts into the living room floor

Throwing trauma at the people that you claim to adore

Instead of standing like an adult and seeking out some aid

You make your family walk the bitter path that you made.

Chorus

(The music explodes into heavy, distorted rock guitars and crashing drums)

But why do they have to pay the debt of a childhood you lost?!

Why do you make the ones you love pick up the emotional cost?!

It’s so twisted and it's bitter to be jealous of your own blood

Just because they have a better life than you ever could!

Yeah, it’s completely unfair, it’s despicable to see

If you weren't gonna heal, why build a family?!

Verse 2

You look at your own kids and you feel a resentment so cold

Because they have the peaceful safety that you couldn't hold

You look at their security, you look at how they’re fed

And you punish them for sleeping in a comfortable bed

They become the punching bag for things they didn't inflict

While you hide behind the past and a defensive script

To project your unhealed envy on a beautiful child

Is a toxic manipulation, dangerous and wild.

Chorus

(Heavy, explosive rock energy)

But why do they have to pay the debt of a childhood you lost?!

Why do you make the ones you love pick up the emotional cost?!

It’s so twisted and it's bitter to be jealous of your own blood

Just because they have a better life than you ever could!

Yeah, it’s completely unfair, it’s despicable to see

If you weren't gonna heal, why build a family?!

Bridge

(Drums drop out into a tense, chugging guitar rhythm; vocals are gritty and building)

A parent’s ultimate duty is to clear out the path

To make sure their own children never feel the old wrath

To build a fortress around them so they grow up secure

Not to poison the water just to make it less pure!

(Drums explode back in with a furious rock beat)

They are meant to be cherished, they are meant to be free!

You gotta face your own reflection if you want them to breathe!

Guitar Solo

(Aggressive, screaming alternative rock guitar solo over a driving rhythm section)

Chorus

(Maximum energy, full-voiced rock belt vocals)

But why do they have to pay the debt of a childhood you lost?!

Why do you make the ones you love pick up the emotional cost?!

It’s so twisted and it's bitter to be jealous of your own blood

Just because they have a better life than you ever could!

Yeah, it’s completely unfair, it’s despicable to see

If you weren't gonna heal, why build a family?!

Outro

(The instrumentation drops back down to the lone, clean intro guitar riff)

Yeah, step up and break the chain.

Don't make them inherit your pain.

They don't owe you your past.

Fix yourself.

(Final, heavy drum hit cuts to sudden silence)