[Intro]
(Ugh)
(Yeah) Here we go again...

[Verse 1]
Phone pressed to my ear, I can hear the quiet sobs
Another fight, another night where he ain't do his job
So you dial my number, hopin' I can pick the locks
On the feelings he ignores, I'm just a toolbox, see?
You need a wrench to fix the plumbing that your man broke
I'm the emotional handyman, a shoulder you can soak
But the leak is in your house, so tell me, what's the use?
I patch you up, you go right back to his abuse, it's a loop
And I'm caught inside it, you ask me for advice and
I wanna tell the truth, but I know you're not enlightened
Enough to wanna leave, you just need a brief reprieve
A little validation you can wear right on your sleeve
My own foundation's weak, got cracks in the plaster
I'm trying to rebuild from my own damn disaster
But you don't ever ask, you just take what I can give
Then you wonder why a guy like me is scared to live
And you ask me why I'm single... when the answer's simple.

[Chorus]
I'm the late-night repair guy, the emotional spare tire
You only ever call me when your world is on fire
I build you up with words he's never learned how to speak
Then you're gone by the morning, promise that you'll keep in touch
But I know it's a lie 'cause you got what you came for
Just a temporary fix to cover up the pain, or
Maybe I'm the one who lets you feel like you're adored
But I'm never the choice, I'm just the placeholder

[Verse 2]
I listen to you list the ways that he's neglectin' you
It's funny, you're neglectin' the fact I'm a person too
You paint him as the villain, you're the damsel in distress
But you're the one who stays and cleans up his entire mess
The listening ear, the deep connection, the shoulder
Then it's back to the man who just treats you colder
You use my empathy against me, it's a weapon, I get it
My trauma made me a fixer, a fact I'm beginnin' to dread, it's
A pattern of behavior, a symptom of the sickness
I'm sortin' through my wreckage, bearing my own witness
To all the damage done, tryna figure out the "why"
While you use my recovery as your emotional supply
Like a pharmacist, dispensing all the things you lack
And you never stop to think what kind of toll it might exact
On the person on the other end, who's also incomplete
You want a full-course meal, but only offer trick-or-treats
And the irony is killing me, the question I always get
"How are you still alone?" while I'm drowning in regret.

[Chorus]
I'm the late-night repair guy, the emotional spare tire
You only ever call me when your world is on fire
I build you up with words he's never learned how to speak
Then you're gone by the morning, promise that you'll keep in touch
But I know it's a lie 'cause you got what you came for
Just a temporary fix to cover up the pain, or
Maybe I'm the one who lets you feel like you're adored
But I'm never the choice, I'm just the placeholder

[Bridge]
And what about me? You ever think to stop and ask that?
Or am I just a soundin' board for everything your life has lacked?
You want the benefits of my healing without the scars
You want the open heart without showing me who you are
Behind the panicked phone calls and the tears that always fall
Yeah, I wanna feel connection, I wanna give my all
But not like this, not as the second-string, the backup plan
I know I'm not ready, I know I'm a broken man
But that doesn't mean I'm your facility for rehabilitation
I'm a person, not your project, not your free-trial relation
So why do I pick up? Why do I always let you in?
Guess the part of me that wants to heal sees where you could begin
And I hate it.

[Outro]
Let it ring...
Just... let it ring.