This song was inspired by the type eight from a personality system called the Enneagram. It is the 8th in a series of songs done in the same manner. In the podcast “The Sleeping at Last Podcast”: Ryan O’Neal, the singer/songwriter for this series, describes the making of his music. His podcast has a...
[Verse 1]
I remember the minute
It was like a switch was flipped
I was just a kid who grew up strong enough to pick this armor up
And suddenly it fit
God, that was so long ago, long ago, long ago
I was little, I was weak and perfectly naive
And I grew up too quick
[Chorus 1]
Now you won't see all that I have to lose
And all I've lost in the fight to protect it
I won't let you in, I swore never again
I can't afford, no, I refuse to be rejected
[Verse 2]
I wanna break these bones 'til they're better
I wanna break them right and feel alive
You were wrong, you were wrong, you were wrong
My healing needed more than time
When I see fragile things, helpless things, broken things
I see the familiar
I was little, I was weak, I was perfect too
Now I'm a broken mirror
[Chorus 1]
But I can't let you see all that I have to lose
All I've lost in the fight to protect it
I can't let you in, I swore never again
I can't afford to let myself be blindsided
I'm standing guard, I'm falling apart
And all I want is to trust you
Show me how to lay my sword down
For long enough to let you through
[Verse 3]
Here I am, pry me open
What do you wanna know?
I'm just a kid who grew up scared enough to hold the door shut
And bury my innocence
But here's a map, here's a shovel
Here's my Achilles' heel
I'm all in, palms out, I'm at your mercy now and I'm ready to begin
I am strong, I am strong, I am strong enough
To let you in
[Chorus 2]
I will shake the ground with all my might
And I will pull my whole heart up to the surface
For the innocent, for the vulnerable
And I'll show up on the front lines with a purpose
And I'll give all I have, I'll give my blood, give my sweat
An ocean of tears will spill for what is broken
I'm shattered porcelain, glued back together again
Invincible like I've never been
Eight was written by Ryan O’Neal.
Eight was produced by Sleeping At Last.
Sleeping At Last released Eight on Fri Feb 15 2019.