(Verse 1) I said I’d never leave you, I meant it when I swore On that brown shag carpet, sitting on the floor You smelled like cigarettes and coffee in the air Perm solution curling through your dark brown hair Those deep brown eyes like something I could fall through A little mark beside your nose that made you you That big bright smile that filled up every room I thought you were the sun, the sky, the moon (Pre-Chorus) Don’t all little girls think their mama’s the world? I did—I was that girl (Chorus) Rae, you were yellow in a purple dress High cheekbones shining, a beautiful mess I carried your name like it made me safe Lilah Rae, Hannah Rae You were my home, you were my ache The first kind of love I could never shake (Verse 2) You could cook like Sunday never had to end Music loud enough to make strangers feel like friends Meatloaf in the speakers, Benatar at night “Spite of Ourselves” and everything felt right But there was white noise living in the walls A kind of quiet absence in between your calls We raised ourselves when you slipped away Learning how to stay when you couldn’t stay (Pre-Chorus) And when you drank too much, your voice would change “Hannah Jane”—like I could be rearranged (Chorus) Rae, you were yellow in a purple dress Light in your laughter, a beautiful mess I carried your name like it made me safe Lilah Rae, Hannah Rae You were my home, you were my ache The first kind of love I could never shake (Bridge — this is the truth moment) I said I’d never leave you—I meant it back then Didn’t know love could bend like that, could break like that, could end And years later, you threw it back at me “I thought you’d never leave me… Hannah Rae” Like a promise I made when I didn’t understand Like a child’s words held in a grown woman’s hand And I felt it split—what was love, what was weight What was mine to carry, what was yours to take (Final Chorus) Rae, I was always reaching for your flame Trying to love you and not take your pain I kept your name but I made my own way Still your Hannah… still your Rae You were my mother and my hardest truth The first love I had that outgrew my youth (Outro) I didn’t leave you—I just learned how to be Something you couldn’t always see But I still hear you in everything Hannah Rae… like a string