WARTIMEStolen Time – The Broken Farther Lyrics
Money might return, but the years stay gone
Names might get cleared, but the damage lives on
Walls can be rebuilt when the whole house falls
Time never answers when a broken heart calls
Watched the calendar bleed while the whole world spun
Birthdays turned to pictures where I was missing from
Holidays went hollow, empty chair by the plate
Phone lit up with silence, every ring came late
Tried to reach my own blood through a wall built tall
Father’s heart stayed trapped behind every missed call
Every sunrise cut deep, every moon felt cursed
Had to breathe through the ache when the distance got worse
They can twist every chapter, make the innocent wrong
But a lie cannot father when the real one is gone
I was cut from the moments I was born to defend
Missed the start of a memory I can’t make again
Bring back every dollar, put my name back right
Still can’t hand me those mornings or unfinished nights
Every scar got a timestamp engraved in my mind
I don’t measure the loss—I measure stolen time
They can pay back the money, they can clear my name
But they can’t bring back birthdays or erase that pain
Every minute that vanished left a mark in my mind
Ain’t a court in the world that can return stolen time
I was cut from the picture while the years rolled on
Had to learn how to breathe with half my heart gone
You can rebuild tomorrow, redraw every line
But you can’t give a father back his stolen time
Fifteen years on my back, then the floorboard cracked
Whole life got stripped while they covered the tracks
Career went cold and the bank bled dry
Still stood on both feet when they bet I would die
Learned hunger had a sound when the fridge stayed bare
Learned betrayal cuts deeper when your blood ain’t there
Gas light blinking, phone shut down twice
Still wrote truth in the dark while I paid that price
Pressure tried to press me, make me beg, make me bend
Laid brick through the breakdown, built my backbone again
Every scar taught a lesson, every loss got filed
But no win can replace missing years with your child
That’s the debt they avoid ’cause it can’t be repaid
No apology restores every memory delayed
They can offer a fortune, still fall short every time
There ain’t a settlement built for stolen time
They can pay back the money, they can clear my name
But the empty chair still carries every holiday pain
Every candle I missed still burns in my mind
No appeal can reverse what was taken by time
I was cut from the picture while the years rolled on
Had to learn how to breathe with half my heart gone
You can rebuild tomorrow, redraw every line
But you can’t give a father back his stolen time
Closed loop, every doorway fed back to the same hands
Court lacked jurisdiction, still they issued commands
Prior judge saw the conflict, stepped off and recused
Next bench took twelve motions, left facts unreviewed
Law clerk stayed active while the case moved through
Held a grievance seat too, kept the conflict from view
Thirteen grievances filed, every answer went cold
Court fraud hit the record, still the record stayed closed
Same hands tipped the scale, then inspected the weight
Conflict stayed out of sight, so the balance stayed fake
Too many hands on the scale from the bottom to top
Every palm held the balance while the clock never stopped
Due process wore a robe, but I watched the seams bend
Every delay stole days no ruling could mend
This wasn’t one bad ruling, it was line after line
A closed loop stealing justice and a father’s time
December 28, 2023, drew the line
July 10, 2026—nine hundred twenty-five days of mine
One hundred thirty two weeks plus a day in the grind
Thirty months disappeared, no appeal can rewind
Twenty two thousand, two hundred sixteen hours ripped from my hands
One million, three hundred thirty two thousand, nine hundred ninety three minutes buried in sand
Seventy nine million, nine hundred seventy nine thousand, five hundred ninety-one seconds were mine
The clock had two hands—both held the scale the whole time
They can pay back the money, they can clear my name
But they can’t bring back birthdays or erase that pain
Every ruling that stalled added years to the climb
Every closed door collected more stolen time
I was cut from the picture while the system rolled on
Had to learn how to breathe with half my heart gone
They can correct every docket, every record and line
Still can’t give a father back one second of stolen time
925 days still carved in my spine
79 million seconds I can never rewind
It wasn’t fate or distance—it was hands on the line
Too many hands held the scale while they stole Father Time
