they don't really know me

**[Verse 1]**
They know my name, but they don't know my story,
Don't know the songs that I play when I'm lonely.
Don't know my worst fears or the thoughts in my head,
Or the tears that I hide when I lay in my bed.
They see this smile and think I'm doing fine,
But there's a whole different girl hiding behind mine.
I've learned how to laugh when I'm falling apart,
Put a little makeup on a broken heart.

**[Pre-Chorus]**
Yeah, I've gotten real good at saying, "I'm alright,"
While I'm fighting my demons in the dead of the night.
They see me get knocked down, watch me stand tall,
But they don't know the cost of surviving it all.

**[Chorus]**
They don't really know me,
They just know the girl they see.
They don't know the midnight tears
Or who I'm trying to be.
I'm surrounded by a crowd,
Still feeling all alone,
Trying to build a little shelter
Out of a heart that's turned to stone.
They know my name,
But they don't know me.

**[Verse 2]**
When I was twelve, I quit talking about feelings,
'Cause nobody seemed to hear what I was revealing.
So I swallowed every word, pushed the hurt down deep,
Learned to hide my tears where nobody could see.
I stopped crying in front of people I knew,
Started saying, "I'm fine," when I wasn't telling the truth.
I figured if I stayed quiet, I wouldn't cause a scene,
So I became somebody different from who I used to be.

**[Pre-Chorus]**
I learned to bite my tongue, learned to hold it inside,
Learned how to say "I'm okay" with tears in my eyes.
But every word I buried still lives underneath,
Like an old country song that keeps playing on repeat.

**[Chorus]**
They don't really know me,
They just know the girl they see.
They don't know the midnight tears
Or who I'm trying to be.
I'm surrounded by a crowd,
Still feeling all alone,
Trying to build a little shelter
Out of a heart that's turned to stone.
They know my name,
But they don't know me.

**[Verse 3]**
I grew up hearing slammed doors down the hallway,
Two people fighting like love was a game they'd play.
They thought I wasn't listening, thought I couldn't hear,
But every angry word still follows me here.
I'd lie in my bedroom, staring at the ceiling,
Trying to make sense of everything I was feeling.
I learned real young how to stay out of the way,
How to walk on eggshells when anger filled the place.

**[Verse 4]**
I've watched people I loved pack up and leave,
People I trusted, people I believed.
Some faded like a sunset, some disappeared overnight,
And every goodbye made me hold on less tight.
After enough heartbreak, you stop letting people in,
You build yourself a wall and call it protecting your skin.
I stopped asking who I was supposed to be,
If they could walk away, maybe they never needed me.

**[Chorus]**
They don't really know me,
They just know the girl they see.
They don't know the midnight tears
Or who I'm trying to be.
I'm surrounded by a crowd,
Still feeling all alone,
Trying to build a little shelter
Out of a heart that's turned to stone.
They know my name,
They don't know me.

**[Bridge — Strip back to acoustic guitar]**
But I'm fifteen and I'm still growing,
Still got a long damn road ahead.
I've got scars from things I've lived through,
But they don't get to write the end.
Maybe love ain't just a word,
Maybe home ain't supposed to hurt.
Maybe someday I'll look back
And know that all this pain had worth.

**[Build-Up]**
So here's my voice, here's my truth,
Here's the girl nobody knew.
I ain't perfect, I ain't fearless,
But I'm still standing right here.
And if nobody heard me back then,
Maybe somebody will now.

**[Final Chorus — Full Country-Rock]**
They don't really know me,
But I'm done hiding who I am.
I'm more than every broken promise,
More than every goodbye I've had.
I don't need somebody to save me,
I just need somebody to hear
That beneath this damn tough exterior
There's a heart that's still right here.
I've been knocked down,

Country, Drum and Bass, Hip Hop, Rock, Sad, Motivational, Uplifting, Female Vocals, Spoken Word, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Drums, Electric Guitar