BEHIND THE SONG
You can be grateful to the self that helped you survive and still let it go. The Only Part that Died is about shedding an identity: recognising the role an old defence played without allowing it to dictate the rest of your life.
The loss is real, but it is not the loss of your whole being. Something that once protected you can end so that another version of you has room to live. Appreciation and release can exist together.