--- Title: I’m At Tier 3 Style: indie pop, piano-led with chiming electric guitar (Rilo Kiley mood) Key: C major, 4/4, midtempo, bittersweet [Verse 1] C G They wrote it down in midnight ink, Am F “Level three, severe,” like a warning sign. C G Doctor’s voice a quiet guillotine, Am F Mom just nodded like she had the time. C G You never spoke the way they prayed you would, Am F But your fingers tapped out lightning on your knees. C G Everyone was waiting for a perfect word, Am F Nobody learned your shaken symphony. --- [Pre-Chorus] Dm Am They say you never said “I love you,” F G As if that’s the only language hearts can use. Dm Am But I’ve seen the way you track the window light, F G And flinch when all the voices get too bright. --- [Chorus] C G I’m at Tier 3, that’s what they call me, Am F Like a hurricane scale instead of a heartbeat. C G Non-verbal doesn’t mean that I’m empty, Am F It just means your words don’t fit my teeth. C G You say I’m silent, but I’m screaming, Am F In colors, in patterns, in the air between. Dm Am You’re afraid of what you’ll never read in me, F G C So you draw a line and name it: “Tier 3.” --- [Verse 2] C G Dad stands frozen in the kitchen door, Am F Hands in pockets like he’s on some other shore. C G Mom’s just trying not to spill her tea, Am F Every time you flinch she thinks, “Is it me?” C G Someone on the TV says we’re hollow shells, Am F “Born without love,” like a prophecy of hell. C G They don’t see you pacing out the living room, Am F Keeping orbit round a world that’s too in tune. --- [Pre-Chorus] Dm Am They say Tier 2 is “danger,” Tier 3 is “fight or flee,” F G Like we’re sorted into cages for the evening news to see. Dm Am But I’ve seen you lay your head on her shoulder, F G The quietest “don’t leave” as the nights get colder. --- [Chorus] C G I’m at Tier 3, that’s what they call me, Am F A clinical storm in a body that’s small. C G But you’re the ones who live in terror, Am F Of a mind you can’t decode at all. C G If I push you back, it’s not because I’m evil, Am F It’s because the room is knives and diesel. Dm Am You see violence where there’s only fright, F G C You never learned my language of “too bright.” --- [Bridge – piano & voice, then band builds] Am Em What if the terror you keep blaming on me F C Is just your fear of what you cannot see? Am Em What if the knife you swear was in my hand F G Was just me trying to carve out a scrap of land? Am Em I’m not your headline, I’m not your ghost, F C I’m not your “monster child” talk-show host. Am Em I’m a nervous system turned up too loud, F G In a house that only worships quiet and proud. --- [Final Chorus] C G I’m at Tier 3, but I’m still here, see, Am F Breathing in the corner of your living room. C G I’m not loveless, I’m just drowning Am F In a world that learned to talk too soon. C G If you want to know what lives inside me, Am F You’ll have to sit in all this silence, too. Dm Am I’m not your danger, I’m not your doom, F G I’m just a different orbit round your moon. C G Write what you want in your old reports, Am F Tier this, tier that, all your little contorts. Dm Am Under the labels, under the fear, F G C I’m the kid who’s been right here all year. (hold C, soft piano cadence)
