“15. The Same Strange Lie” from The House That Trauma Built by Li Jean-Luc Harris. Released: 2026. Track 15.
Lyrics:
(Verse 1)
A childhood built on shifting sand
A life I couldn’t understand
Another year, another face
Another temporary place
A new social worker on the phone
In a house that wasn’t my own
They spoke in whispers, hushed and low
About the best way for a boy to grow.
(Chorus)
And they were making decisions, they thought they knew best
Putting my broken heart to the test
While they were drawing the maps and planning the day
I was building a wall to keep them away
Stone after stone in the silent fight
To keep a small part of my world in the light
Brick by brick, so they couldn’t get through
That was the only thing I knew how to do.
(Verse 2)
A decade passed behind that wall
Waiting for the sky to fall
Then a therapist, with patient eyes
Looked past the anger and the lies
he didn’t push, he didn’t pry
Just asked me if I’d like to try
To write the thoughts I’d locked inside
The ones I always tried to hide.
(Chorus)
They were still making decisions, they thought they knew best
Putting my broken heart to the test
While they were drawing the maps and planning the day
I was building a wall to keep them away
Stone after stone in the silent fight
To keep a small part of my world in the light
But the ink on the page let the first crack through
And that was the only thing I knew how to do.
(Bridge)
Now I’m the one who holds the key
A Residential Support Worker, care-experienced, that’s me
I welcome them in with a court-ordered name
And see in their eyes it’s the start of the same
Strange, shifting life, a world of change
I swore to myself I would rearrange
I came in this job to break the chain
And shield these kids from the coming rain.
(Outro)
But the social workers have thirty files deep
And promises the system can’t keep
The care staff are tired, underpaid, and worn thin
And the whole damn cycle just begins again
I came in this job thinking I could make a change
But from this side of the desk, it all looks the same
And I watch a new kid, with fear in his view
Start building a wall…
Just like I knew how to do.