I've got a highlight reel of all the times
I made somebody cry
As a selfish, reckless, less invested friend than what I came by
Some bad ideas about what loving is
Left an awful residue
Ain't no way for me to unring all the bells I rang in my youth
Oh, the women I have loved
And left injured in the shadow of
My childhood dysfunctions playing out in real time
Were that when I was younger
I could've put to use my wonder
To imagine better ways a healthy partner is defined
Oh, the women I have loved and the wounds I left behind
I thought the well-drawn line between our clothes
Meant our brains were different kinds
I could not relate because the subtle shape of theirs
Was not the same as mine
I was insensitive and hyper sensitive
A duality not lost on me
I thought that love was just these feelings
With no regard for what a lover needs
Oh, the women I have loved
And left injured in the shadow of
My childhood dysfunctions playing out in real time
Were that when I was younger
I could've put to use my wonder
To imagine better ways a healthy partner is defined
Oh, the women I have loved and the wounds I left behind
I finally got myself a therapist
I was such a little wounded astronaut
Treating women like accessories
Mirrors to reflect my broken parts
Oh, the women I have loved
And have left scattered
Like their presence never mattered much to mine
Were that I could go back
Into the past with a letter
Perhaps I could do better in that timeline
Oh, the women I have loved and the wounds I left behind
