Father, Don’t Preach To Me

Verse 1

I was raised on thunder, not on praise,

Love came laced with look-away gaze.

Every “no” was a ghost in disguise,

Teaching me truth by telling me lies.

Verse 2

The belt hung silent, the house held still,

Mercy was something that bent to his will.

He said obedience would set me free,

But his heaven looked like a cell to me.

Pre-Chorus 1

If I bow, who will I be

Can freedom come with a key

Chorus

Father, don’t preach to me,

That sermon’s lost its key.

If every sin still sounds like you,

Then what the hell am I SUPPOSED TO DO

Verse 3

So I learned to flinch when someone leads,

To question kindness, to doubt good deeds.

Every boss looks like a god I won’t serve,

I smile polite, then swerve the curve.

Verse 4

I burn my bridges to keep them lit,

Call it freedom, though I choke on it.

There’s comfort hiding in the harm I know,

A child inside still running the show.

Verse 5

Heard a preacher say, “Submit or die,”

I laughed so hard I damn near cried.

If heaven’s quiet, I’ll take the fire,

At least the devil don’t call me “liar.”

Pre-Chorus 2

Am I healing or just defying

What’s left of me worth denying

Chorus

Father, don’t preach to me,

That sermon’s lost its key.

If every sin still sounds like you,

Then what the hell am I SUPPOSED TO DO

Verse 6

Authority’s face wears too many masks,

I see his eyes in every task.

I push back hard just to feel alive,

Mistake resistance for how I survive.

Verse 7

They call it rage — I call it prayer,

A hymn to prove that I was there.

Each fight’s a way to scrape the rust,

Off promises I learned not to trust.

Verse 8

Rules taste bitter, truth tastes sweet,

When both are just another repeat.

The louder they shout, the less I hear,

I learned rebellion’s cheaper than fear.

Pre-Chorus 3

Do I fight to breathe or breathe to fight

Can wrong still feel like doing right

Chorus

Father, don’t preach to me,

That sermon’s lost its key.

If every sin still sounds like you,

Then what the hell am I SUPPOSED TO DO

Bridge

There’s grace in rage, and peace in sin,

The war I fight is fought within.

If I kneel someday, let it be by choice,

To silence his in my own voice.

Verse 9

Love me wild, but don’t you guide,

I’ll choose wrong just to feel inside.

Freedom’s a wound that never sealed,

It bleeds each time I’m told to yield.

Verse 10

Every leader’s sermon sounds like his,

Every law reminds me whose hand this is.

So I write my name across the wall,

Just to prove I was here at all.

Pre-Chorus 4

If I forgive, will I disappear

Or just stop echoing his fear

Chorus

Father, don’t preach to me,

That sermon’s lost its key.

If every sin still sounds like you,

Then what the hell am I SUPPOSED TO DO

Verse 11

The scars keep time like ticking clocks,

Each one carved from unpicked locks.

I break what’s built, I spit the crown,

’Cause standing up still means kneeling down.

Verse 12

I don’t need your throne or pity’s hand,

I built my kingdom on shifting sand.

If chaos is sin, then so am I,

A holy fool who won’t comply.

Verse 13

But some nights, quiet creeps through the din,

And I hear that boy I might’ve been.

He asks if peace is worth the cost —

I say, “Maybe… but I’d rather be lost.”

Pre-Chorus 5

Will surrender break my chain

Or just rename the pain

Chorus

Father, don’t preach to me,

That sermon’s lost its key.

If every sin still sounds like you,

Then what the hell am I SUPPOSED TO DO

Outro

Maybe peace ain’t won, it’s made,

From all the debts I never paid.

He raised a fighter, that’s plain to see,

So Father… don’t preach to me.