[Intro] (a hypnotic electric-saz riff over driving glitter-rock drums and vintage synth bass, fuzz guitar and analog synth stabs, punchy and propulsive) [Verse 1] (driving stomp groove, electric saz and chiming rhythm guitar under a confident vocal, spring reverb) Everybody's got a file on who they think you're gonna be Same lines, same lean, same laugh on cue, a rerun on the screen They keep a photo in their pocket from a self you left behind And they hold it up beside you like you owe them what they find [Pre-Chorus] (fuzz guitar and synths rising, the groove coiling tighter) But the ink was never permanent, the page was never signed You don't have to keep on printing what you were the hundredth time [Chorus] (full and punchy, power-pop chords ringing, saz soaring, defiant and bright) You are not a carbon copy of the you from yesterday Not a duplicate, not a rerun, not a part you have to play Let the old draft go on fading, let it blur and let it fray You are not a carbon copy, and you never have to stay [Verse 2] (back into the stomp, bass driving, saz answering the vocal) He grew a whole new set of edges that his people couldn't place Said the boy they keep expecting isn't living in this face And the room got quiet, wanting back the version that they knew But a man is not a printout you can run the whole way through [Pre-Chorus] (climbing again, harmonies and synths gathering) So he thanked them for the memory and he set the picture down Went and became a stranger in his own familiar town [Chorus] (bigger, brighter, the whole band hammering) You are not a carbon copy of the you from yesterday Not a duplicate, not a rerun, not a part you have to play Let the old draft go on fading, let it blur and let it fray You are not a carbon copy, and you never have to stay [Bridge] (drops to saz and a tense hushed vocal, then a hard-charging build back up) Every copy of a copy comes out fainter than the last So they cling to the first pressing and they laminate the past But you're allowed to smudge it, you're allowed to start again You were never sworn to being who they needed way back when [Instrumental solo] (a searing electric-saz-and-fuzz-guitar solo trading wild runs over the pounding stomp, building to a real peak) [Final Chorus] (biggest lift, everything blazing and defiant) You are not a carbon copy of the you from yesterday Not a duplicate, not a rerun, not a part you have to play Let the old draft go on fading, let it blur and let it fray You are not a carbon copy, and you never have to stay [Outro] (the electric-saz riff returns over the driving groove, fuzz guitar and drums falling away, tape echo trailing off)
