[Intro] White coats at the doorway, clipboards in a line You can keep your careful questions, you can keep your little sign [Verse 1] They took the blinds down, called it morning at noon Put a paper cup of water by the foot of the room Said, “Count backward slowly,” while the hallway bent I kept one scrap of summer that the window couldn’t rent They wrote my name in blue ink, underlined it twice I laughed too loud, then swallowed every word like ice You say I’m out of order, you say I’m hard to reach But I know what I remember, and I know what I can keep [Pre-Chorus] Don’t put your hands on the last good thing I own There’s a little patch of daylight in the cracks beneath the door [Chorus] White coats tryin’ to steal my fuckin’ sunshine They can lock the door, but they can’t take what’s mine I’ll bite through the silence, I’ll tear through the line They’ll never take me alive, never take me alive White coats tryin’ to steal my fuckin’ sunshine Keep your clean white world; I’m still burnin’ inside If the whole room turns and the walls close tight They’ll never take me alive [Verse 2] The clock lost its hands, but I still count the days A kid’s chorus drifts in from some faraway place I press my palm to the glass; it comes back cold There’s a bright little field in the story I told They say, “Take a deep breath,” like breath makes it fair Like a locked door gets kinder if you call it care I’m not your case number, not your chart, not your plan I’m a fist full of daylight, still here, still a man [Pre-Chorus] Don’t put your hands on the last good thing I own There’s a little patch of daylight in the cracks beneath the door [Chorus] White coats tryin’ to steal my fuckin’ sunshine They can lock the door, but they can’t take what’s mine I’ll bite through the silence, I’ll tear through the line They’ll never take me alive, never take me alive White coats tryin’ to steal my fuckin’ sunshine Keep your clean white world; I’m still burnin’ inside If the whole room turns and the walls close tight They’ll never take me alive [Bridge] [Children’s choir, distant] Hold on to the day, hold on to the day [Lead vocal, strained] I’m still here—do you hear me? I’m still here! [Distant screams] You don’t get to name me! You don’t get to erase me! [Breakdown] No— Not my sun Not my breath Not the part of me you haven’t buried yet No— I won’t fold I won’t fade I’m not yours to take away [Final Chorus] White coats tryin’ to steal my fuckin’ sunshine They can lock the door, but they can’t take what’s mine I’ll bite through the silence, I’ll tear through the line They’ll never take me alive, never take me alive White coats tryin’ to steal my fuckin’ sunshine Keep your clean white world; I’m still burnin’ inside If the whole room turns and the walls close tight They’ll never take me alive [Outro] [Children’s choir, distant] Hold on to the day [Lead vocal] That little piece of sunshine is mine
