[verse 1] i've been working on myself since verse one made some promises before the drums kicked in said i'd quit the things that hurt the people i love then rhymed "sorry" with "again" my friends say i'm a broken record i say that's a little harsh it's more like i'm a concept album with a really promising start [pre-chorus] i've got three chords and a breakthrough and a melody that proves if i sing it with conviction then it counts as something new [chorus] i'm gonna change, i'm gonna change just wait until the bridge i'll find the words, i'll face the hurt i'll finally grow up a little bit and when the final chorus hits you'll hear a better man i'm gonna change, i'm gonna change as soon as the arrangement can [verse 2] the second verse is where i struggle with the patterns that i know i've identified the problem which is basically halfway home i've got a list of all my triggers and a spreadsheet of my shame but the chorus keeps returning and i keep singing it the same [pre-chorus] i could change the way i treat you i could listen, i could try but the producer says we're building to a really gorgeous high [chorus] i'm gonna change, i'm gonna change just wait until the bridge i'll find the words, i'll face the hurt i'll finally grow up a little bit and when the final chorus hits you'll hear a better man i'm gonna change, i'm gonna change as soon as the arrangement can [bridge: drums disappear, clean guitar arpeggios, intimate vocal; for the first time, no irony] i've been saving all my growing for the part where the guitars fade like there's something in the silence that can fix the mess i've made but i know the words mean nothing if they're only words i sing and a bridge is just a bridge if i don't cross the damn thing [voice cracks slightly] i don't want another promise i don't want another song i just want to be the person you've been waiting on so long [long pause; a single sustained guitar note] [quietly] and maybe this time i could— [drum fill builds; guitars rise] [key change: up a whole step. enormous full-band entrance, triumphant harmonies, gang vocals] [final chorus] i'm gonna change, i'm gonna change just wait until the bridge i'll find the words, i'll face the hurt i'll finally grow up a little bit and when the final chorus hits you'll hear a better man i'm gonna change, i'm gonna change as soon as the arrangement can [post-chorus: gang vocals, soaring octave guitars] whoa-oh-oh, i'm a better man whoa-oh-oh, according to the band whoa-oh-oh, hear how far i've come same mistakes, but half a step above [outro: instruments cut to one clean guitar, back in the original key] i've been working on myself since verse one made some promises before the drums kicked in
