# You Almost Had Me **[Intro — male lead, intimate, over lonely piano]** There you go again... Talkin’ like a thought is a prophecy. Ha. You almost had me. **[Verse 1]** Woke up, mind already makin’ a movie, Worst-case scenes tryna shake and move me, “You gon’ lose this, everybody sees through me,” Old voice talkin’ like it ever really knew me. Used to grab every thought like evidence, Give fear a throne, give doubt residence, Now I watch that noise with intelligence— Thought ain’t fact, that’s the difference. Here come anger with a match and gasoline, Here come shame tryna edit what I’ve seen, Here come fear dressed sharp, lookin’ evergreen, But I caught that little hook before it got in me. **[Pre-Chorus]** Oh, you wanted my pulse up, Wanted my fists shut, Wanted one bad thought to make my whole day fucked up— Then I saw what you were doin’... And I started laughin’. **[Chorus — huge melodic release]** You almost had me, almost made me believe, Almost turned a little thought to a life sentence on me, But I saw you reachin’, saw the trick up your sleeve, Now I’m laughin’ while you’re talkin’—you got nothin’ I need. You almost had me, almost stole my peace, But the second I could see you, you got weaker to me, You can scream, you can scheme, you can beg me to bleed— You’re a thought, not a truth, you don’t get to be me. **[Post-Chorus]** Ha—almost had me. Not today. Thought, not fact. Watch it fade. **[Verse 2 — drums hit harder]** Now my mind throws bait and I notice the line, “Get mad right now!” — nah, I’m takin’ my time, “Everybody hates you!” — cute story, nice try, I don’t gotta climb aboard every train passing by. I can feel what I feel without feeding the flame, Name the emotion, don’t become its name, Let the wave roll through, let it rise, let it change, Wise mind at the wheel while the weather gets strange. See, peace ain’t never having darkness appear, Peace is darkness knockin’ and me staying right here, I can hear every threat that imagination declares And still choose my next move instead of choosing my fear. **[Pre-Chorus]** You wanted reaction, Wanted distraction, Wanted one assumption turned into an action, But I caught you in the act and— Damn, that’s kinda funny. **[Chorus]** You almost had me, almost made me believe, Almost turned a little thought to a life sentence on me, But I saw you reachin’, saw the trick up your sleeve, Now I’m laughin’ while you’re talkin’—you got nothin’ I need. You almost had me, almost stole my peace, But the second I could see you, you got weaker to me, You can scream, you can scheme, you can beg me to bleed— You’re a thought, not a truth, you don’t get to be me. **[Bridge — drums disappear, exposed piano + distant vocal]** I don’t have to fight you. I don’t have to flee. I don’t have to prove you wrong To keep you from controlling me. I can watch you. I can name you. I can smile and let you leave. Funny how the monster shrinks The second that I see... **[Beat Drop — near silence]** Oh. You wanted a reaction. **[Final Chorus — massive bass, piano, stacked harmonies]** YOU ALMOST HAD ME—now I know what you do, Take a maybe, make it misery, then masquerade as truth, But I’m quicker with the distance, I’m deliberate with moves, I can hear you without serving you—that’s freedom coming through. You almost had me, but my peace ain’t cheap, I don’t wrestle every nightmare that comes crawling through my sleep, Let it knock, let it talk, let it promise, let it plead— I decide what gets my focus. I decide what I believe. **[Outro — piano only]** There you go again... Tryin’ to sound important. Ha. Almost had me.
