Listen & feel · 5 min 23 sec
Leave The War Outside
Give them somewhere the fighting doesn’t live.
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No autoplay. No personal listening history. Anonymous totals only.
Behind the song
A song about keeping adult conflict out of the child’s space.
Adult hurt can remain real without becoming a child’s burden. Children often notice the silences, tones, questions and heavy names that adults believe they have hidden.
Leave The War Outside is a request from the child’s imagined point of view: keep blame, scorekeeping and loyalty pressure out of the child’s time, so they do not have to choose, explain or make themselves smaller to stay connected.
After listening
Leave one burden at the door.
What can I leave at the door so my child has one place where they do not have to choose, explain or shrink?
The feeling can be real without becoming the child’s job. Keep the next action small: soften a tone, leave out a question, or make room for their time to simply belong to them.
Accessible wordsRead the lyrics to Leave The War Outside
The words are provided so the song can still be followed without hearing the audio.
Cold open
You don’t have to forgive themYou don’t have to change your mindBut when you walk in here with meLeave the war outside
Verse one
I can tell before you say itWhen something’s on your mindI hear it in the way you answerI see it in your eyesMaybe somebody hurt youMaybe everything you feel is trueBut I’m still just a kidStanding hereTrying to have some time with you
Pre-chorus
I don’t need the whole storyI don’t need another sideI don’t need to know who should’ve done whatI just need you here tonight
Chorus
Leave the war outsideDon’t bring it through the doorI don’t need to know who hurt who anymoreYou can carry what happenedYou can still believe you’re rightBut when you’re here with mePleaseLeave the war outsideI don’t need your angerI don’t need their blameI just need to love the people that I loveWithout feeling ashamedSo for this little piece of timeLet me just be mineLeave the warOutside
Verse two
Don’t ask me what they told meDon’t watch my face for cluesDon’t make a simple little storyFeel like something I must chooseDon’t make me careful with a nameOr nervous when I smileBecause something good happened somewhere elseAnd I forgot just for a whileThat I was supposed to keep the worlds apart
Pre-chorus
Maybe grown-ups need their answersMaybe grown-ups need what’s trueBut I shouldn’t have to carryWhat happened between you two
Chorus
Leave the war outsideDon’t bring it through the doorI don’t need to know who hurt who anymoreYou can carry what happenedYou can still believe you’re rightBut when you’re here with mePleaseLeave the war outsideI don’t need your angerI don’t need their blameI just need to love the people that I loveWithout feeling ashamedSo for this little piece of timeLet me just be mineLeave the warOutside
Bridge
I’m not asking you to forgetI’m not asking you to pretendI’m not asking you to trust somebodyYou can’t trust againI’m only asking for one thingWhen I’m standing in this roomDon’t make me carry grown-up painJust to stay connected to you
Bridge build
Because I notice every silenceI notice every toneI notice when a name gets heavyEven when you think I don’tAnd every time I have to shrinkTo keep the peace insideA little piece of childhoodGets left behind
Final chorus
Leave the war outsideDon’t bring it through the doorI don’t need another reasonI don’t need another scoreYou can hurtYou can be angryYou can still believe you’re rightBut if you love meGive me somewhereThat the fighting doesn’t live tonightI don’t need your versionI don’t need their nameI need one placeWhere loving both sidesDoesn’t come with shameFor this little piece of childhoodLet me just be mineLeave the warLeave the blameLeave the sidesOutside
Outro
You don’t have to fix everythingYou don’t have to make it rightJust when you come back here to meLeave the warOutside
Spoken outro
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