Don’t Need Your Love

I was a smart kid, yeah, I’d seen the news
I knew the world would hate me but how could you?
You were my life, my comfort, my hero
You’ll always be my dad
But the rest I’ve let go 

I wore the skin of a stranger, I lost my name
Wore a necklace of shame, a heavy chain
I was a foreign prisoner in my own home
I held the key
If only I’d’ve known

I don’t need your love to love myself
But it sure would help

I learned to live without your praise
Without your permission, don’t need it anyways 
I learned to love a kind soul
Someone who could almost make me feel whole

When I held a ring and I took a knee
The world should’ve froze for just him and me
But in the back of my head I could see you pissed
Face red, fingers in a fist 

I don’t need your love to love myself
But it sure would help

I took a deep breath before I took that chance
When I penned your address, licked a stamp
I still never dreamed in a million years
You’d don your suit and show up here

To see your face out of the blue
My world froze, it was just me and you 
I could count the years in your forehead lines 
I could see in your eyes it was finally time 

Now I’m loud and beautiful like the wedding bells
If there’s a scowling face I can hardly tell
’Cause I am myself and I am your son
And you got my back in front of everyone 

I don’t need your love to love myself
But it sure helps