[Verse 1] You fold your sleeves to hide the paint You count your words before they land You laugh too loud at your own joke Then tuck your grin back in your hand You keep a list of little rules For how a person ought to be But every box you squeeze into Was drawn too small for you and me [Pre-Chorus] So let the crooked picture hang Let the odd note ring out long All those parts you tried to change Were trying to make you whole [Chorus] Be strange, be loud, be wonderfully wrong Take up the room you’ve been shrinking in for so long Your bent little compass still points you somewhere true The world gets less alive when it edits out you So come as you are, with your seams showing through Be strange, be loud—there’s a place here for you [Verse 2] You name your plants like old friends Wear that coat in July heat Turn every grocery run into A private parade down the street Your hands keep moving when you talk Your mind takes side roads just for fun You thought that made you hard to love It’s how you make the colors come [Pre-Chorus] Let the crooked picture hang Let the odd note ring out long All those parts you tried to change Were trying to make you whole [Chorus] Be strange, be loud, be wonderfully wrong Take up the room you’ve been shrinking in for so long Your bent little compass still points you somewhere true The world gets less alive when it edits out you So come as you are, with your seams showing through Be strange, be loud—there’s a place here for you [Bridge] I kept my hands behind my back I kept my questions in a drawer Then you showed up wearing stars On a jacket made for four And I saw my own odd shape In the way you took your space No more sanding down the edges No more asking to be plain [Final Chorus] Be strange, be loud, be wonderfully wrong Take up the room you’ve been shrinking in for so long Your bent little compass still points you somewhere true The world gets less alive when it edits out you Come as you are, let the whole room see through All the bits you hid are the bits we came to choose Be strange, be loud—there’s a place here for you A place here for you [Outro] Your seams showing through There’s a place here for you
