I Couldn’t Ask You to Stay

[Intro — 4 bars, fingerpicked acoustic guitar]

[Verse 1]

You asked me to say
What I never wanted to say
To tell you to leave
When I wanted you to stay.

You needed to hear it from me,
Though it broke something inside.
I searched for another answer,
But there was nowhere left to hide.

[Pre-Chorus]

I didn’t want to let you go;
I was frightened love would fail.
You came back offering all your heart
I was scared that mine would pale.

[Chorus]

I couldn’t ask you to stay,
Though every part of me wanted to.
I was scared I’d give you half a heart
When you came with all of you.

So I said the words you asked of me
While my heart fell apart that day.
I never wanted you to leave
I just couldn’t ask you to stay.

[Instrumental — 4 bars]

[Verse 2]

It wasn’t you, or what you felt;
Your love was honest, deep and pure.
Mine was true in every moment
I was frightened it was not enough.

I was scared I’d disappoint you,
That old wounds would speak again;
That we’d become the people
We had promised not to be again.

The truth is, you are always
Moving somewhere through my mind.
I wonder if you’re safe and well,
If the world is treating you kind.

[Pre-Chorus]

You said this was your final wish:
For me to say what you could not.
I gathered every bit of courage,
While my heart begged me to stop.

I asked you then to leave me,
Though my whole soul whispered, “Stay.”
The moment that I said it,
Something in me broke again.

[Chorus]

I couldn’t ask you to stay,
Though every part of me wanted to.
I was scared I’d give you half a heart
When you came with all of you.

So I said the words you asked of me
While my heart fell apart that day.
I never wanted you to leave
I just couldn’t ask you to stay.

[Instrumental — piano and soft cello]

[Verse 3]

Then you said that I could stop you,
So I asked you not to go.
But the moment that I said it,
I feared I’d promised what I didn’t know.

I felt as though I’d deceived you,
Though my love had never lied.
How could I ask for all of you
If fear still lived inside?

It wasn’t that I loved you less
Or didn’t want you close to me.
I couldn’t promise all my heart
While part of it was still afraid to breathe.

[Bridge — bare vocal and guitar]

Every time you begged me not to leave,
A thousand battles crossed my mind.
One part of me reached out for you;
Another froze each time.

I hate that I brought you to your knees,
That I was the reason why.
I couldn’t bear to see you hurting,
Or meet the sorrow in your eyes.

You forgave me more than I deserved,
While I could not forgive myself.
And beneath it all, I feared that you
Might leave me once again.

I was scared to give myself to love,
Then watch you walk out through that door
To wake inside that silence
And be alone once more.

[Short instrumental pause]

[Final Chorus — vulnerable, slightly fuller]

I couldn’t ask you to stay,
Though every part of me wanted to.
Not because I didn’t love you
But because I still do.

If I couldn’t offer all of me,
What right had I to ask for you?
So I broke the heart I wanted most
Trying not to break it too.

I said the words you asked of me
While my heart fell apart that day.
I never wanted you to leave
I was afraid to ask you to stay.

[Outro — close, almost spoken]

If you ever question what I felt,
Or what I could not say
I never wanted you to leave.

I was only afraid
To ask you to stay.

[Instrumental Outro — acoustic guitar]