I think the first verse is actually pretty sincere. I think the first verse is saying "Your childhood was rough. Your parents were jerks. And that's not your fault. You did everything you could at such a young age ("bending over backwards never good enough") and they were still jerks. It's not your fault your childhood was rough. You had some pretty serious wounds, whether they were literal or figurative."
I think the chorus is where it starts to say "But, you can't change the past. I know, I've tried. You can't change or wish away the past. You can't keep dwelling on it or it will destroy you. I know you have wounds. I've been there. But you can't keep dwelling on them or you'll always lose the battle of trying to get better."
The second verse, to me, is where it gets a little more harsh and realistic. It basically says "Look, I know what you've been through is rough and wallowing in other people's sympathy feels good, but you can't grow if you stay there. It's understandable that you're hurt. You were cheated by life out of having a good childhood, which is understandably a painful experience for you that you didn't deserve. But if you go around blaming other people for your problems and believing that you'll never get better, you won't go anywhere. If you convince yourself that life screwed you over and, as such, you can't move on, you will be doomed to stay in this screwed up cycle. You can tell people the way you are isn't your fault, but from here on you do have a choice."
I think the first verse is actually pretty sincere. I think the first verse is saying "Your childhood was rough. Your parents were jerks. And that's not your fault. You did everything you could at such a young age ("bending over backwards never good enough") and they were still jerks. It's not your fault your childhood was rough. You had some pretty serious wounds, whether they were literal or figurative."
I think the chorus is where it starts to say "But, you can't change the past. I know, I've tried. You can't change or wish away the past. You can't keep dwelling on it or it will destroy you. I know you have wounds. I've been there. But you can't keep dwelling on them or you'll always lose the battle of trying to get better."
The second verse, to me, is where it gets a little more harsh and realistic. It basically says "Look, I know what you've been through is rough and wallowing in other people's sympathy feels good, but you can't grow if you stay there. It's understandable that you're hurt. You were cheated by life out of having a good childhood, which is understandably a painful experience for you that you didn't deserve. But if you go around blaming other people for your problems and believing that you'll never get better, you won't go anywhere. If you convince yourself that life screwed you over and, as such, you can't move on, you will be doomed to stay in this screwed up cycle. You can tell people the way you are isn't your fault, but from here on you do have a choice."