[Verse 1] I laid it all out on the altar Every version that I wore for you The names you gave me, the shape I carried The weight of trying to be what you needed me to
I watched it catch, I watched it take I didn’t reach to pull it back Some things are meant to turn to nothing So you can finally see what’s underneath the cracks
[Pre-Chorus] Not everything that burns is a tragedy Not everything that’s gone deserved to stay The dust clears and I’m standing in the quiet Seeing myself for the first time in a long, long way
[Chorus] Cremation, not destruction This is not the end, this is what survives Just the fire finding out what’s still alive What’s still alive Cremation, it’s your creation
[Verse 2] I used to grieve the things that left me Every piece of who I was before Now I trace the outline of what’s standing And I don’t recognize it - but I want it more
[Pre-Chorus] Not everything that burns is a tragedy Not everything that’s gone deserved to stay The dust clears and I’m standing in the quiet Seeing myself for the first time in a long, long way
[Chorus] Cremation, not destruction This is not the end, this is what survives Just the fire finding out what’s still alive What’s still alive Cremation, it’s your creation
[Bridge - slower, bare] You thought you finished me You only finished what was never mine You burned away the borrowed parts And left me with the things I couldn’t leave behind
[Pre-Chorus] Not everything that burns is a loss Some of them were my burden, my cross The dust clears and I’m standing in the quiet Finally seeing me, the me I really want to be —
[Final Chorus - key lift] Cremation, not destruction This is not the end, this is what survives It’s my fire finding out what’s still alive What’s still alive Cremation, it’s my beginning
Cremation, not destruction This is not the end, this is what survives It’s my fire finding out I’m still alive - I’m still alive. Cremation, it’s my beginning
I’m still. Alive.