Thankful for the Struggle

Written by Rob Smith

© Rob Smith, 2025. 

All Rights Reserved.

BMI Work #: 78954360

Verse 1

Cardboard boxes in the old truck bed,
A one-way mind and a dream already dead.
Daddy had a six-string dream and an anxious heart,
Trading what we had just to make a brand-new start.
He was drivin’ that WK Parkway line,
One hand on the wheel, one hand on time.
Every mile, every move, every barely-get-by
Put a little more steel where the soft parts die.

Pre-Chorus

Every night that ran too long
Was just tuning up this song.
Every road we couldn’t see
Was building who I’d be.

Chorus

Yeah, we were poor, proud, loud, and wild,
Broken-home miles through a backseat child.
Paper-thin walls but a heavy-held soul,
Learning how to build what we couldn’t control.
I wore that struggle like a second skin,
And I’d ride that long road all over again.
Yeah, the hard ground made me honest, the years made me true—
Thankful for the struggle… it made me you.

Verse 2

We had toast soaked in milk for cereal dreams,
Call it survival—that’s what it means.
Free lunch line and worn-out jeans,
Trying to stitch together bigger than it seemed.
We’d twist that rabbit-ear just right at night,
Just to pull a world through a flicker of light.
Neighbors left bread, we learned to receive,
A broken home still learning to believe.

Pre-Chorus

Every scar, every bruise, every “life ain’t fair”
Was a lesson etched in the open air.
Every loss I made it through
Fed the fire I still run to.

Chorus

Yeah, we were poor, proud, loud, and wild,
Broken-home miles through a backseat child.
Paper-thin walls but a heavy-held soul,
Learning how to build what we couldn’t control.
I wore that struggle like a second skin,
And I’d ride that long road all over again.
Yeah, the hard ground made me honest, the years made me true—
Thankful for the struggle… it made me you.

Bridge

Sittin’ on a tailgate in July heat,
While his old band shook dust through the beams.
I’d hear it leak through the screen door crack,
Like somethin’ in my blood was callin’ me back.
Now I look at my hands and I see his lines,
All that hard-earned livin’ rewired in time.
He gave me fire he never got to keep,
And a backbone built when the world ran deep.
Yeah, I’ve been low, but I won’t back down—
I learned how to stand my ground.

Final Chorus

Yeah, we were poor, proud, loud, and wild,
Still hear that echo in a broken-home child.
Those hollow walls couldn’t hold that flame,
We turned that struggle into a name.
I wore that past till it wore me thin,
And I’d ride that long road all over again.
Yeah, it made me steady, it made me true—
Thankful for the struggle… thankful for you.

Outro

Yeah, I’m thankful…
For every mile we made it through.
That gravel road, that hard-earned truth—
That’s what made me… me and you.

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