[Intro — vulnerable tremblin', barely above a whisper, voice unsteady, breath audible 'tween words] (ahhh… inn… owt…) breeth— inn breeth— owt can I saaay dis can I saaay dis owt loud (hmmm… hmmm…) [Verse 1 — confessional guilty intimate, slurred consonants, drawled vowels on confession words, breath heavy 'tween lines] I wuz raised ta keep tha peace, swalla wha' I feel Nod 'long ta every lie 'til tha lie felt reeal I laaffed at jokes I ain' fine funny Clapped at takes I thawt wuz dummy Said "yeah you riight" when they wurn' riight Heel' my toongue so tiight it went nuum overniight I thawt dat wuz kindness — naw, dat wuz feeear Dressed up az grace so nobody coul' see cleeear I ain' waant tha room ta tuurn, ain' waant tha staaare So I disappeared politely like I wasn' even theeere An' dat's tha sickness — ain' it? Smile at tha wroong 'Cuz bein' disliked iz heavier dan bein' 'long fuh tha riide (yeeeah… yeeah…) [Pre-Hook — resigned weary, monotone pitched down, drained delivery] (we waaant ta be liiiked — we waant ta be liked —) (we waaant ta belooong — we waant ta belong —) [Hook — weighted haunted unresolved, stretched on thesis words, 12 voices wide call-response] Cooourage ta be disliiiked (cooourage ta be disliked) Cooourage ta stand alooone (cooourage ta stand alone) Cooourage ta say tha wooord (say tha word, say tha word) Withouuut dressin' up tha booone (withouut dressin' up tha bone) [Verse 2 — accusing sharp indignant, harder consonants, quicker phrasing, edge in voice] Dis generation scroll past tha screamin' Repost tha infographic, call dat believin' We hashtag solidarity — we don' speak in tha room When Uncle saay tha slur at tha cookout, we consume I seen it, I waas it, I'll be it 'gain tomorra Swalla'd my noo with a smile, went home an' borra'd Sorra from tha silence — dat's tha rent we pay Fuh tha privilege of bein' invited ta staaay We buil' whole identities on tha 'proval of straangers Curate every caption like our sooul in daaanger 'Cuz tha moment we speak straigh', somebody gon' leeave An' we'd rutha dieee liiiked dan liiive an' breeeathe (breeeathe… breeethe…) [Bridge — broken quiet devastated, voice crackin', near-silence 'tween lines, sonar whispers circlin'] unnnder… unnnder… wha' you wooon' say becomes whooo you aaare (ahhh… ahhhh…) 'gain… a—gaaain… every "maaybe" you meant "nooo" iz a cofffin you caaarry (hmmm… hmmm…) [Verse 3 — confrontational bitter laughin', half-laugh in delivery, self-aware, breath gaps where listener fills in silence] Tha unjust ain' scared of yooou Dat's tha paart we miss They knooow you waaant be loved So they let you coexiiist Quiet in tha pew, quiet at tha desk Quiet when yo boy said tha thiiing an' tha room jus' laaffed an' nobody pushed baack (silence — hoold it —) We mistake bein' invited fuh bein' freee Tha leash iz looong but it's still a leash, believe meee I knooow 'cuz I'm pullin' on it while I write dis Still waant y'all ta like me while I'm indictin' uus Ain' dat tha jooke — tha sermon wit' tha collection plate Preachin' courage while I curate wha' I don' saaay (haah… yeeah… yeah…) [Pre-Hook — same as first, more voices stacked, still resigned] (we waaant ta be liiiked — we waant ta be liked —) (we waaant ta belooong — we waant ta belong —) [Hook — wider, denser, haunted] Cooourage ta be disliiiked (cooourage ta be disliked) Cooourage ta stand alooone (cooourage ta stand alone) Cooourage ta say tha wooord (say tha word, say tha word) Withouuut dressin' up tha booone (withouut dressin' up tha bone) [Final Build — urgent commanding tremblin' conviction, phrases early an' late, voice crackin' on peaks] saay tha thiiing saay tha thiiing saay tha thiiing (say it, say it, say it) lose tha rooom lose tha rooom lose tha rooom (lose it, lose it, lose it) be tha ooone be tha ooone be tha ooone (be tha one, be tha one) [Final Collapse — all voices fused single resonance, den sudden empty space] cooourage / disliiiked cooourage / alooone cooourage / disliiiked cooourage / alooone (all voices fused — single resonance —) (sudden silence) [Outro — fragile honest stripped, barely audible, close-mic, almost spoken] they don' neeed ta like meee (they don' need ta like me…) I neeed ta knooow meee (I need ta know me…) dat's tha whoole (that's tha whole…) thiiing (thing… thing…) (ahhh… hushhh…)
