[Intro – classroom bell, chair scraping, low guitar feedback] Present. Yeah, I’m here. Don’t sound so surprised. [Verse 1 – restrained, rhythmic vocals] Teacher says I need to focus, Says I’ve fallen far behind. I can seal a breach in vacuum, But I can’t show how I got nine. Two years missing from the record, One year added to my shame. Everybody reads the textbook. I still hear my crew by name. The girl beside me’s crying ’Cause her party got shut down. I nod like I understand her While I scan the exits out. [Pre-Chorus – rising tension] I crossed dead moons, I watched stars burn. Now raise your hand And wait your turn. Sonríe, Lucía. Pretend this life is ordinary. [Chorus – huge melodic hook] I’m seventeen going on forty, Too damn young to feel this old. I’ve been freezing between planets, Now they tell me, “Do what you’re told.” I’m seventeen going on forty, Built from cable, scars and spite. I can drag you from a wreckage— I just can’t get homework right. No sé cómo ser normal. No sé cómo regresar. Seventeen going on forty, And I’m tired all the time. [Verse 2 – faster, more sarcastic delivery] Counselor says I should join something, Maybe sports or drama club. I spent two years hauling engines. Think I’ve lifted quite enough. Mom packed lunch and left a message: “Hope today will make you smile.” I stared at it for seven minutes, Then kept it in my bag awhile. Diego passes in the hallway. We both look the other way. He remembers who I used to be. I remember what I made him pay. They say high school builds your future. Mine was built, then blown apart. Now I’m diagramming sentences With a black box for a heart. [Pre-Chorus – heavier] I know pressure. I know weight. I know what happens When rescue comes too late. Pero aquí estoy— Late for class, alive by accident. [Chorus] I’m seventeen going on forty, Too damn young to feel this old. I’ve been freezing between planets, Now they tell me, “Do what you’re told.” I’m seventeen going on forty, Built from cable, scars and spite. I can drag you from a wreckage— I just can’t get homework right. No sé cómo ser normal. No sé cómo regresar. Seventeen going on forty, And I’m tired all the time. [Post-Chorus – gang vocals] Sit down! Speak up! Catch up! Grow up! [Lucía, dryly spoken] Pick one. [Breakdown – crushing guitars, shouted vocals] You call this pressure? You don’t know heavy! I held the hull While the whole ship bled! You call me lazy? You call me difficult? I watched the oxygen fall And kept working anyway! No me hables como si fuera una niña! I grew up somewhere You couldn’t survive! [Half-time instrumental with Latin percussion] [Bridge – quiet, vulnerable clean vocals] I know they’re trying to help me. I know my mother stayed awake. I know my father kept the porch light on Every night I was away. But the room they saved is not mine. That girl never made it home. She was fifteen when she vanished. I came back seventeen— And old. [Soft Spanish vocal] Mamá, perdóname. Estoy aquí, pero no completa. Quiero ser tu hija todavía. Sólo no sé quién soy. [Final Chorus – soaring, defiant] I’m seventeen going on forty, But I’m still allowed to break. I don’t have to earn my breathing. I don’t have to stay awake. I’m seventeen going on forty, Still rebuilding piece by piece. Maybe strength is more than working. Maybe rest is not defeat. Voy a aprender a ser normal— Or make my own way to survive. Seventeen going on forty, But goddamn it— I’m alive. [Final refrain – layered vocals] I’m alive. Sigo aquí. I’m alive. Aunque duela, sigo aquí. [Outro – classroom bell] Teacher: “Lucía? Did you finish the assignment?” [Lucía, after a pause] …Which one?
