Quietest Friend

Been stavin' off rejection, which always hurt like hell

I took the devil's bargain, made a stranger of myself

If anything was wrong, I couldn't tell

So I didn't see it comin' but now it's pretty clear

I traded my own wisdom for a jury of my peers

I ignored you for thirty years

You don't have to tell me how hard it must've been

For you to let me in

Nothin' lasts forever, now I understand

I hurt you again, my quietest friend

5th grade in the lunchroom, fickle friends were tellin' jokes

Makin' you the punchline of some random thing I wrote

They were lookin' to me to land the final blow

And just to be included, went straight up to my head

I thought the joke  too stupid for it to matter what I said

I was wrong but I went along with it

You don't have to tell me how hard it must've been

For you to let me in

Nothin' lasts forever, now I understand

I hurt you again, my quietest friend

We could write me some reminders, I'd memorize them

I could sing them to myself and whoever's listenin'

I could put them on a record about my hometown

Sittin' here with pen and paper, I'm listenin' now