I Came Back Quiet

Never On The Test - trip-hop - 3:17

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Song Background/Inspiration

After being let go and then asked back - no apology, no fanfare, just a curt email and an offer - a person could be forgiven for gloating. I Came Back Quiet is about choosing not to. It is the story of walking back in, hanging up your coat, taking your chair, and saying nothing, because there is work to be done and the silence says plenty. The restraint is the whole point: there is a pride that needs a crowd and a pride that needs no witness, and this is the second kind. You do not have to win out loud to know the win was yours. It is quiet not out of defeat, but out of self-possession.

Lyrics

The email came on a Tuesday No subject, no hello Just"We'd like to talk this week" Like the last six months were nothing more than snow No mention of the morning They walked me to the door Just"Could you start on Monday?" And a number that was more than before I could've made them say it I could've watched them choke it out But I came back quietly Hung my coat, pulled up my chair Didn't gloat, didn't crow Just let the silence sit up there Picked it up where it broke Let the work do what it does Some wins you don't announce I came back quiet The new ones didn't know me The old ones gave a nod The kind that says"We saw it" Without ever saying what they saw The project sat there waiting Half-finished, crooked, wrong I rolled my sleeves and started I'd been here all along I could've made them say it I could've made them call it what it was But I came back quietly Hung my coat, pulled up my chair Didn't gloat, didn't crow Just let the silence sit up there Picked it up where it broke Let the work do what it does Some wins you don't announce I came back quiet There's a pride that needs a witness And a pride that needs no crowd One keeps score and raises hell The other just sits down And does the thing it came to do The only way it knows You don't have to win out loud To know the win was yours So I came back quietly Hung my coat, pulled up my chair Didn't need to say a word The silence said it for me there Picked it up where it broke Let the work do what it does Some wins you don't announce I came back quiet I came back quiet..