Truth Without Teeth

[Verse 1] I came up under voices That sharpened every word Like pain was proof of wisdom Like kindness must be blurred Every truth arrived barbed Every lesson left a mark And I learned to call that honesty Just because it reached the dark [Pre-Chorus] But not every clean thing Needs a blade in it Not every real thing Needs to draw blood to live [Chorus] Truth without teeth Still cuts clean Still leaves the lie with nowhere to hide Truth without teeth Doesn’t need the scream Doesn’t need to break me To get inside Truth without teeth I’m learning Can still be strong [Verse 2] There are words that only bruise And call themselves brave Words that wear correction Like a hunger to dominate I used to let them in Like weather through the frame Thought if it hurt enough to hear It must deserve my name But truth can stand upright Without pushing me to my knees It can arrive in a steady voice And still ask everything of me [Pre-Chorus] Not every mirror Needs to crack To show me where I am [Chorus] Truth without teeth Still cuts clean Still leaves the lie with nowhere to hide Truth without teeth Doesn’t need the scream Doesn’t need to break me To get inside Truth without teeth I’m learning Can still be strong [Bridge] No humiliation No holy slap No dragging the wound open Just to call it that Just the plain hard light Falling where it falls And me staying there Long enough to see it all [Final Chorus] Truth without teeth Still holds weight Still asks me to answer Still asks me not to fake Truth without teeth No violence in it No need to make me smaller To make the meaning fit Truth without teeth And for once I can let it in [Outro] I used to think If it hurt, it had to be true I don’t anymore