This is the happiest song on the album. It portrays the joy and warmth a parent feels upon waking their child by phone. The lyrics depict the simple yet profound happiness found in hearing the child's sleepy voice, symbolizing the rekindling of love, connection, and brightness in the parent's life through a brief interaction. The album The Story of Echoes tells a real and sad story about parental alienation and the love of a father to be with her daugher. Sleepy Hello: Today I heard your voice again And all the dark turned gold I called, and someone picked it up Then brought you to the phone I said I was your father You were still asleep in bed And less than ten seconds later That little hello danced in my head That sleepy sound that morning hush Half in dreams and half in sun It pulled me back through all the years And made the distance come undone Oh what a joy to wake you Just to hear you breathe Just to send a little sunrise Through the tender parts of me You were all sleep and sweetness Soft and slow and gold And my whole world lit up again From one sleepy hello From one sleepy hello From one sleepy hello I wished you such a happy day Already smiling to myself You sounded just the way you used to Dreams still sparkling in your words I asked what good had come from rest And your answer made me smile I slept So small so true So perfectly your style I asked if you were waking now But all I got was that little sound And I could see you in my mind Pulling the pillow over your head Oh what a joy to wake you Just to hear you breathe Just to send a little sunrise Through the tender parts of me You were all sleep and sweetness Soft and slow and gold And my whole world lit up again From one sleepy hello From one sleepy hello From one sleepy hello We only had a few more moments Then I let you drift away But something in your quiet voice Turned the grey sky bright and gay And maybe it was just a call A few soft words and then the tone But some small mornings light a life And make a heart feel not alone Oh what a joy to wake you Just to hear you breathe Just to send a little sunrise Through the tender parts of me You were all sleep and sweetness Soft and slow and gold And my whole world lit up again From one sleepy hello Oh what a joy to wake you Just to hear you near Just to feel the morning open And find a bright day here You were all sleep and sweetness Soft and safe and gold And my whole life came back in light Through one sleepy hello My child I love you I hold you close And all my day still glows From one sleepy hello more

This song is where the album enters its darkest moment. Where parental alienation starts to show its face and claws. The song 'Why can't I love And be happy with my father' delves into the emotional turmoil experienced by a child caught in the middle of parental conflict, portraying the impact of parental alienation on the child's psyche. It highlights the struggle of the child to navigate through the war-like situation created by the adults, questioning why love has to be turned into a battleground and emphasizing the enduring nature of a child's love despite the chaos surrounding them 13. Why can’t I love And be happy with my father This month the silence sharpened into war Parental alienation growing more and more For years it circled quietly around my daughters mind And because she was still a child it worked with time The first long silence where a voice had been A sudden block where messages once lived in between Then words of anger repeated once again Echoes of voices that were never hers to begin Something in her eyes still fought the storm A quiet truth trying to be born Why cannot I love And be happy with my father Why must love be turned to war A child standing in the middle Of a wound she never asked for April eighth became the day the line was crossed My daughter asking what the payments cost Questions a child should never have to hold Carrying burdens far too heavy and too old Then words like knives were thrown at me Cruel and bitter hostility Insults no child invents alone Another voice speaking through her tone And still beneath the borrowed pain I could feel her heart remain Why cannot I love And be happy with my father Why must truth be bent this way A child searching through the noise For one honest place to stay That day my daughter stayed with a relative A lawyer tied to the case we live Lines were crossed the law should guard Turning a child against her fathers heart A small gift once became a crime A memory twisted over time After months without her face Love reduced to evidence Why cannot I love And be happy with my father Why must love be torn apart A child standing in the middle Of a silent family war Why cannot I love And be happy with my father Why must I be made to choose In the ruins of the shouting Only love has more to lose So I showed her stories like our own Of children left to stand alone For a moment truth appeared And the storm inside her cleared She saw that she was not the only one Not the only child made to run And for one fragile breath of time Peace returned and she was mine Why cannot I love And be happy with my father Let that question ring and stay Past the lies and past the damage Truth will find its way Why cannot I love And be happy with my father Even now beneath it all A child still knows what love is Even when the grown ones fall Somewhere beyond the noise and war My daughter still remembers What love is for more

Headline: When a child’s voice is traded for a court’s script. The Narrative: This is the hardest chapter of the Story of Echoes. "It’s in the Paper" captures the exact moment a child stops speaking from the heart and starts speaking from a legal file. It’s a song about the shattering of a child's autonomy. In the heat of parental alienation, children are often coached or pressured to read "the paper"—the court orders, the legal accusations, the adult grievances. They start to believe that their own feelings don't matter unless they align with what is written on a white sheet with a judge's stamp. What you’re hearing: The Panic: The physical shaking and the "shatter" of a child forced into a confrontation they didn't ask for. The "Borrowed Voice": The tragedy of a daughter saying "I don't want to go," not because she doesn't love her father, but because she’s been taught that "The Paper" is the only truth she’s allowed to have. The Father's Heartbreak: The realization that you aren't fighting a person anymore; you’re fighting a script that has been placed in your child’s hands. Lyrics: Please do not make this harder Please do not make me break Every time it turns to panic Every time I shake You say no one sees me You say no one knows But I am the one here living Everything you chose I do not want to go Why will you not hear me say it slow It is in the paper It is in the paper I saw it with my own eyes No one put it in my head No one fed me borrowed lies I do not want to go I do not want to go Why cannot my own voice count When I say no It is in the paper I do not want to go You call this love I call it pressure You call this truth I call it weight You say they are filling up my mind But you keep trying to change my state I am not refusing every visit I am not erasing you from me I am only asking for one small thing Why cannot that one thing be I do not want to go Why will you not hear me when I say no It is in the paper It is in the paper I saw it with my own eyes No one put it in my head No one fed me borrowed lies I do not want to go I do not want to go Why cannot my own voice count When I say no You say I am being turned against you I say you turn the room to fear And all I wanted was for once To feel like someone heard me clear It is in the paper It is in the paper I read it and I know it is there No one put it in my head No one placed those words with care I do not want to go I do not want to go If I am the one still living this Why cannot I say no Please do not make this harder Please just hear me say no more