[COLD OPEN] They said you wouldn't make it... They were wrong... [VERSE 1 — melancholy, confessional, building] I remember every voice That told me who I was Every room that felt too small Every door that closed because They decided what my ceiling was Before I learned to stand Wrote the ending of my story With someone else's hand I carried every word they said Like stones inside my chest Convinced myself the weight was mine Convinced myself the rest Of everything I wanted Was a child's fantasy Until the shadow that they cast on me Became the thing I had to free [PRE-CHORUS] But something underneath the dark Was learning how to grow Something in the broken parts Was putting on a show For no one but itself And I finally let it [CHORUS — full band, anthemic, triumphant but earned] I mastered my shadow I learned every corner Of the dark they built around me And I made it mine I mastered my shadow Every doubt that tried to drown me Became the depths That taught me how to climb And I'm standing in the light now Not because they said I could But because I walked through everything They said I never would I mastered my shadow And the shadow made me [VERSE 2 — grittier, more intense, the battle acknowledged] There were nights I almost Gave them what they wanted Almost let the version That they built of me Become the haunted Shell of something That forgot it ever Had a name worth keeping Almost let the darkness Win while I was sleeping But the battle that was raging In the space between Their words and who I was Became the place I'd been Most honest with myself Most raw most real most free The shadow wasn't theirs It was always part of me [PRE-CHORUS] And something underneath the dark Was learning how to grow Something in the broken parts Was putting on a show For no one but itself And I finally let it [CHORUS] I mastered my shadow I learned every corner Of the dark they built around me And I made it mine I mastered my shadow Every doubt that tried to drown me Became the depths That taught me how to climb And I'm standing in the light now Not because they said I could But because I walked through everything They said I never would I mastered my shadow And the shadow made me [BRIDGE — most raw, stripped then explosive] You don't get to name me You don't get to frame me In the picture That you painted When you thought I wasn't watching You don't get to claim The version of me That survived What you were building (pause) Because that version Belongs to me Every scar Every season Every night I couldn't see The reason Built the thing You're looking at right now And you don't get A single piece of how I got here [FINAL CHORUS — biggest, most triumphant] I mastered my shadow... I learned every corner... Of the dark they built around me And I made it mine I mastered my shadow Every doubt that tried to drown me Became the depths That taught me how to climb And I'm standing in the light now Not because they said I could But because I walked through everything They said I never would I mastered my shadow And the shadow Made me [OUTRO] They were wrong... And you already knew that...
