“17. The Person You Needed When You Was Younger (A Message to my younger self)” from The House That Trauma Built by Li Jean-Luc Harris. Released: 2026. Track 17.
Lyrics:
(Verse 1)
Hey there, kid, behind the screen, behind the wall
The one who learned to make himself invisible and small
I see you listening through the plaster to the fight
And trying to find a flicker of a safe and steady light
I know you think the chaos is a flaw inside your code
That you’re the broken gear that carries the whole load
But I’m here to travel back through all the smoke and haze
And tell you that you’re not the one who started the blaze.
(Chorus – Music builds slightly, becoming warmer and more confident. A soft string section might enter.)
‘Cause I am the person you needed when you were younger
The safe home, the answered hunger
The voice that says, “I see your pain”
And whispers, “You won’t be lost in the rain”
I’m the promise that the system couldn’t keep
The hand that holds you when you’re talking in your sleep
Every battle that I’m fighting, every chain I break in two
I’m being the person that you needed… to get you through.
(Verse 2)
I see you in the file, a “Looked After” name in black
A little boy who’s learning that he can’t ever go back
I see the pills they gave you just to quiet down the storm
When all you really needed was a place to feel warm
I see you in the woods, with a shame that burns so deep
With a chemical anchor just to get a little sleep
You did what you had to, you survived the best you knew
And I am so damn proud of you for making it through.
And I am the person you needed when you were younger
The safe home, the answered hunger
The voice that says, “I see your pain”
And whispers, “You won’t be lost in the rain”
I’m the promise that the system couldn’t keep
The hand that holds you when you’re talking in your sleep
Every battle that I’m fighting, every chain I break in two
I’m being the person that you needed… to get you through.
(NEW Verse 3)
Remember the school gates, that final Tuesday morning?
The feeling you’d been returned without a single warning?
That wasn’t your weight to carry, that wasn’t your mistake
It was a grown-up’s promise that a grown-up chose to break.
Remember the white walls, the rights they took away?
When they called your truth “unprofessional” just the other day?
You held it all inside you, a secret buried deep
But every one of those moments is a promise I will keep.
(EXPANDED Bridge)
And every case file page that called you “uncooperative” and “cold”
Is a chapter of the story that I’m now paid to have told.
Every door that they locked is a door I now kick down,
For a kid who feels like just another ghost inside this town.
The wall you built for safety, brick by silent, lonely brick
Is the foundation for the company that makes the system tick.
Your scars became my roadmap, your silence became my cause,
You survived the war so I could learn to rewrite all their laws.
(Final Chorus)
And I am the person you needed when you were younger!
The front door key, the answered hunger!
The proof that you can heal the pain!
And you will never be lost in the rain!
(EXPANDED RAW OUTRO)
There’s a house now, with a man who holds my hand…
He calls me his home… you hear that? He calls me his home.
From the tent in the woods, shivering and soaked through,
To the warmth of these sheets… We made it. We really did.
Remember the hunger? The real kind, the one that gnawed?
There’s food in the fridge now. Always. You can eat whenever you want.
Remember the name he called you? The one that burned like a brand?
Josh just kissed my head and told me he was proud of this man.
So the shaking can stop now.
The flinching can stop.
You don’t have to be the “good boy” anymore just so you can stay.
You can breathe now. Just… breathe.
The fight is over.
It’s finally over.
We’re safe.
We’re home.
You can rest.