I Just Want My Life Back, I'm Not Giving Up My Fight

[Verse 1] Eight years I lived here, called this place my home, Then one long summer changed it all and left me fighting on my own. I marched for something better, I know the difference between a march and a riot. I know what peaceful looks like— and I know when streets turn violent. They counted dollars, meetings, plans, while I counted locks and screams. Somewhere underneath their promises I lost my ordinary dreams. [Pre-Chorus] My world got smaller, door by door, daylight doesn’t promise safety anymore. Don’t tell me how much money’s been spent— tell me where my freedom went. I want freedom from the fear, freedom from the fight, freedom just to live again without defending my right. [Chorus] I DON’T WANT TO SURRENDER— I JUST WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE. I’m tired of waking every day already braced to fight. I want sleep without the screaming, a sidewalk I can roam, a little peace, a little freedom in the place I call my home. I DON’T WANT TO SURRENDER— I WANT FREEDOM FROM THE FIGHT. I shouldn’t have to lose myself just to make it through the night. I’m tired, I’m hurting, but there’s still a fire inside— I don’t want to surrender. I just want to live my life. [Verse 2] I rolled my chair down sidewalks where junkies told me, “Turn around.” Said, “We own these streets now— if you don’t like us here, then move.” I lived here long before that day, but somehow I had something to prove. Like I was the one who didn’t belong, like I had no right to move. I pay the rent, I write the check, another increase every year, while the place outside my window keeps feeding every fear. Human shit upon the sidewalk, puddles of piss beneath the rain, another fight, another scream, another night of the same. They call it revitalizing— show me something I can feel. Actions only count when something in a human life gets healed. [Verse 3] No one’s willing to repair the damage done to the place I call home. I’ve never been a burden, I’ve always handled shit on my own. But I’m tired of hurting, so damn tired of being alone. Six years fighting for a life that once felt like my own. I never knew I could cry so many tears, never knew my own home could hold this much fear. I carried myself through all of these years— I just never thought I’d have to carry it alone. [Chorus] I DON’T WANT TO SURRENDER— I JUST WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE. I’m tired of waking every day already braced to fight. I want sleep without the screaming, a sidewalk I can roam, a little peace, a little freedom in the place I call my home. I DON’T WANT TO SURRENDER— I WANT FREEDOM FROM THE FIGHT. I shouldn’t have to lose myself just to make it through the night. I’m tired, I’m hurting, but there’s still a fire inside— I don’t want to surrender. I just want to live my life. [Bridge] I lost my child more than forty years ago, thought that was the deepest grief I would ever have to know. But nothing has been harder than living through these days— because this pain keeps waking with me, it never goes away. That grief came with a heartbreak no mother should endure, but this has been six years of wondering if home is home anymore. Six years of losing pieces, six years of being afraid, six years watching ordinary life slowly stripped away. I never knew I could cry so many tears. Never knew my own front door could hold this much fear. I carried myself through everything, I learned to survive somehow— but nothing has been harder than the life I’m living now. [Breakdown] Don’t hand me intentions. Don’t hand me another plan. Don’t tell me you’re listening while nobody gives a damn. Measure whether I can sleep. Measure whether I can leave. Measure whether living here still gives me room to breathe. Don’t tell me how much money’s been spent— show me what actually changed. Good intentions mean nothing when human lives stay the same. [Final Chorus] I DON’T WANT TO SURRENDER— I JUST WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE. I want freedom from the fear, freedom from the fight. I want daylight without wondering what waits outside my door. I want the life I used to have— I shouldn’t have to beg for more. My safety. My freedom. My neighborhood. My home. I’ve fought a city that won’t fight for me, and I’m tired of fighting alone. But underneath the anger, underneath these endless nights, there’s still something here worth saving— there’s still something here that fights. I DON’T WANT TO SURRENDER. HEAR EXACTLY WHAT I SAY: I JUST WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE WITHOUT HAVING TO FIGHT FOR IT EVERY DAMN DAY. [Outro] Still here. Still breathing. Still mine. I want freedom from the fight. I just want my life back.