STILL HERE (empowerment rap — grounded, real, no rags-to-riches) [INTRO — warm, spoken, like talking to a friend] This one's not about making it. It's about the Tuesday you almost didn't. [VERSE 1 — half time, unhurried, every line landing softly] Didn't climb out of a burning building didn't overcome some movie villain my story doesn't have a dramatic scene where the crowd goes quiet and they feel my dream I just woke up on a Wednesday, tired made the coffee, got myself rewired answered emails I didn't want to send told myself I'd get to living on the weekend again But somewhere in the ordinary in the mundane and the temporary in the lunch I made, the bill I paid the small decision not to be afraid — I found something not a revelation just a quiet, stubborn determination [PRE-HOOK — energy starting to lift] Nobody's gonna make a film about my Tuesday nobody's gonna speech about the long way I came to get here — but I got here I showed up for myself and that's the whole year [HOOK — bright, anthemic, double time feel] I'm not a legend I'm a person getting through it I'm not on fire I just do it when I'm not into doing it nobody clapped when I decided to be kinder to myself nobody charted when I finally asked somebody for help I didn't conquer I just kept the lights on I didn't summit I just held on a little past the night song I'm not a highlight reel I'm real and I'm still here I came through nothing cinematic and I made it through the year [VERSE 2 — single time, conversational, almost funny] I didn't have a mentor in a pivotal moment I had a podcast and a snack and a mild sense of focus I didn't have a speech that changed the way I see the world I had a friend who texted "you okay?" and that was worth more I failed at something quietly where nobody was watching no crowd, no consequence, just me and my stomach dropping picked it up again at ten-fifteen on a nothing night not because I'm brave, I just had nothing on at quite that time I'm mediocre at a dozen things I love to do I'm not the best at anything and I find that kind of freeing too because the thing I do for nobody, for free, at midnight, just for me is the realest thing I own and nobody can take that from me, see [PRE-HOOK] Nobody's gonna make a film about my Tuesday nobody's gonna speech about the long way I came to get here — but I got here I showed up for myself and that's the whole year [HOOK] I'm not a legend I'm a person getting through it I'm not on fire I just do it when I'm not into doing it nobody clapped when I decided to be kinder to myself nobody charted when I finally asked somebody for help I didn't conquer I just kept the lights on I didn't summit I just held on a little past the night song I'm not a highlight reel I'm real and I'm still here I came through nothing cinematic and I made it through the year [BRIDGE — TRIPLE TIME, joyful chaos, almost laughing] I-parallel-parked-on-the-first-try-in-front-of-everybody-watching I-sent-the-difficult-email-I'd-been-drafting-for-three-weeks-and-it-was-fine-and-slightly-anticlimactic I-said-no-to-something-I-didn't-want-to-do-without-a-big-long-explanation I-ate-a-salad-not-for-virtue-just-because-I-wanted-one-which-is-a-different-kind-of-liberation I-called-my-friend-back-same-day-I-apologized-and-actually-meant-it I-felt-a-feeling-fully-all-the-way-through-to-the-bottom-and-I-didn't-try-to-edit-it I-finished-something-small-I'd-started-seven-times-before-I-finally-got-it-done put-it-on-the-shelf-and-sat-back-and-just-quietly-said-one (everything drops — just a breath) [VERSE 3 — half time, intimate, almost spoken] The version of you that nobody's writing songs about that gets up anyway that sits inside the doubt and doesn't leave just renegotiates shows up imperfect and still participates — that's the one that's the whole thing that's the part of you worth everything [FINAL HOOK — full, warm, every instrument in] I'm not a legend I'm a person getting through it I'm not on fire I just do it when I'm not into doing it nobody clapped when I decided to be kinder to myself nobody charted when I finally asked somebody for help I didn't conquer I just kept the lights on I didn't summit I just held on a little past the night song I'm not a highlight reel I'm real and I'm still here I came through nothing cinematic (half time, just voice) and I made it I made it I made it through the year [OUTRO — warm keys, fading] Still here. That's enough. That's the whole thing.
