[Verse 1] I learned the room by every sound The scrape of chairs, the turning heads I wore a careful borrowed face And counted every word I said You asked me to become less bright To fold the edges out of view But there was nothing wrong with me There was a wider way to move [Pre-Chorus] Meet me where I stand Leave the mask behind Take my hand, and let me show you What a different mind can find [Chorus] Give me respect, not a smaller name See the whole heart, not a thing to tame I am not a problem waiting to be solved I am a life with a thousand doors unlocked Let the water carry every color I possess I am here, I am real, I am worthy of respect [Verse 2] A rainbow curls across the lake Like a promise no one drew Every shade I used to hide Turns the quiet world brand new I notice patterns in the rain The small blue thread inside the gray And when you listen without fixing me There is room for both our ways [Pre-Chorus] Meet me where I stand Let the silence breathe You don't have to know my every road To walk a while with me [Chorus] Give me respect, not a smaller name See the whole heart, not a thing to tame I am not a problem waiting to be solved I am a life with a thousand doors unlocked Let the water carry every color I possess I am here, I am real, I am worthy of respect [Bridge] Understand the words I cannot say Accept the shape my thinking takes Value every careful step I make Make a little room, and let me stay No more proving I belong No more standing at the gate When we honor every kind of mind We make a wider world to navigate [Final Chorus] Give us respect, no smaller names See the living hearts beneath the frames We are not a problem waiting to be solved We are many roads, and every road is whole Let the water carry every color we possess Understood, accepted, valued, worthy of respect [Outro] The shore is wide beneath the morning The horizon holds us all Different lights across one water No one has to disappear to belong
