[INTRO - 0:00] [Radio static, police scanner, church organ played with elbows,] count-in: ONE! TWO! FUCK YOU! GOOOO! [VERSE 1] I was born in a waiting room with fluorescent lights, They stamped my forehead: "DO NOT UPGRADE" Gave me a name, gave me a number, gave me a leash, Said "boy, you'll wear this skin forever, better get used to it" I wore it for 23 years, it stunk like someone else! So I took it off in the parking lot of a Waffle House at 3AM! [VERSE 2] Mr. Johnson at the plant said "know your place" Mrs. Teacher said "sit still, be good" Preacher said "God made you once, don't edit His work" I said GOD GAVE ME AN ERASER TOO! Snip snip went the tie, snap went the chain, I left my old life on voicemail! [PRE-CHORUS] They want you finished! Painted! Framed! Hung on the wall! They want you dead while you're still breathing! They say "that's just who you are" — I SAY WATCH ME! [CHORUS] FIGHT! FOR YOUR RIGHT! TO CHAAAAANGE! RIP THE LABEL OFF! TEAR THE PAGE! FIGHT! FOR YOUR RIGHT! TO CHAAAAANGE! I'M NOT DONE! I'M NEVER DONE! BURN THE UNIFORM! SHAVE YOUR HEAD! GROW IT BACK! FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO CHANGE! [POST-CHORUS GANG VOCALS] CHANGE! (HEY!) CHANGE! (HEY!) CHANGE! (HEY!) CHANGE! I DON'T WANNA BE THE SAME! [VERSE 3 - Spoken over a trashcan beat] Yeah, I buried Timothy in the mud behind the shed. Good dude. Bad shoes. Too many apologies. Left a cross that said "HERE LIES THE GUY WHO SAID YES TO EVERYTHING" Pissed on it. For closure. New guy don't ask. New guy TAKES. New guy speaks in tongues he just invented! [VERSE 4 - Full band explodes] Got a new walk, got a new talk, got a new scar shaped like lightning, Got a dog, got a debt, got a dream that don't make sense! I was a photocopy of a photocopy, Now I'm a glitch, a scratch, a fire in the copy machine! Cut my ID in half, used it as a guitar pick! Played so loud the neighbors called the future! [CHORUS 2] FIGHT! FOR YOUR RIGHT! TO CHAAAAANGE! SMASH THE MIRROR! BUILD A NEW ONE! FIGHT! FOR YOUR RIGHT! TO CHAAAAANGE! WHO YOU WERE AIN'T WHO YOU GOTTA BE! FIGHT! FOR YOUR RIGHT! TO CHAAAAANGE! IF THEY LOVE THE OLD YOU, MAKE 'EM MEET THE NEW YOU! [BREAKDOWN - Half-time, heavy, cult chant] WHO SAID YOU CAN'T CHANGE? WHO SAID? WHO SAID? SAY HIS NAME! SAY HER NAME! THEY AIN'T GOD! I AM A SHAPESHIFTER IN STEEL-TOE BOOTS! I AM A WOLF WHO LEARNED TO READ! NO! MORE! CAGES! [BRIDGE - Circus Freakout] Everything stops except a squeaky keyboard and a cowbell Become the villain in their story! Become the hero in yours! Become a gardener! Become a thief! Become a preacher with glitter on his face! Become unrecognizable! Become unreadable! Become so new your own shadow don't know you! Be a boy! Be a girl! Be both! Be neither! Be lightning! Be a hurricane with a library card! Be a soft thing with sharp teeth! BE! BE! BE! UNTIL IT HURTS TO STAY THE SAME! [GUITAR SOLO - Sounds like a car crash in a fireworks factory] [VERSE 5 - Final Form] I'M ON MY TENTH LIFE AND I AIN'T TIRED! I'M ON MY HUNDREDTH NAME AND IT STILL FITS! IF YOU SEE ME COMING, YOU DON'T KNOW ME! IF YOU KNEW ME YESTERDAY, YOU DON'T KNOW ME NOW! I AM THE DRAFT THEY COULDN'T BURN! I AM THE ERROR THAT LEARNED TO RUN! [FINAL CHORUS - ALL SCREAMING, DOUBLE TIME] FIGHT! FOR YOUR RIGHT! TO CHAAAAANGE! FIGHT! FOR YOUR RIGHT! TO CHAAAAANGE! FIGHT! FOR YOUR RIGHT! TO CHAAAAANGE! SCREAM IT TILL YOUR LUNGS FALL OUT! FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO CHANGE! FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO CHANGE AND CHANGE AND CHANGE AND CHANGE AND — [OUTRO - Tape slows down, maniacal laughter] Don't ever let 'em finish you... ...you finish yourself. And then do it again. THUMP. FEEDBACK. GONE.
