Better Than Yesterday

[Verse 1]
I brought old ghosts into something new,
Let yesterday decide what I would do.
You reached for my heart, I pushed you away,
Made you pay for someone else's mistakes.

[Verse 2]
You weren't the man who caused my pain,
But I treated you like you were the same.
And if I could take back the tears I've caused,
I'd give anything to undo it all.

[Chorus]
I made you pay for yesterday,
For every scar somebody left my way.
You gave me love, I answered with fear,
And hurt the one I wanted near.
I'm sorry, baby, I see it now,
I can't erase the hurt somehow.
If you'll let me, I'll learn to stay,
And love you better than yesterday.

[Bridge]
You never asked to carry that weight,
I let old hurt stand between us too late.
I won't ask you to forget what I did,
Just let me show you who I can be.

[Final Chorus]
I made you pay for yesterday,
For every scar somebody left my way.
You gave me love, I answered with fear,
And hurt the one I wanted near.
I'm sorry, baby, I see it now,
I can't erase the hurt somehow.
If you'll let me, I'll learn to stay,
And love you better than yesterday.

[Outro]
I'll love you better than yesterday.

Intimate country-soul ballad, slow 6/8 sway, close warm piano and restrained acoustic guitar in the verses, subtle brushed drums and rounded bass entering at the chorus, aching pedal steel fills, expressive solo vocal with a lived-in low register that opens into a heartfelt chorus, natural room ambience and uncluttered mix, gentle rise into a final resolving refrain.