[Verse 1] I started as a story Told before I knew The shape was drawn around me Before I ever got to choose Got praised for acting fake I learned the rules to stay inside Taught that my real feelings Were something I should hide [Pre-Chorus] The secret felt like mercy A still and settled sea But under all that silence It was muting me I called it peace and order I called it being strong I didn’t see the trading Till it went on too long [Chorus] Name me right I hold the pen now Not just the form I write the name Name me right Not what they called me Where I am warm Where all my colors blaze Name me right I hold the pen now Not just the form I set the mark Name me right I’m the one who says Where I am warm Where all my colors blaze (I name myself in full) [Verse 2] Leaving didn’t free me I carried home the throne The judge I thought I’d outrun Set up in my bones I fought the outer voices Too loud, too much to be But every blow was landing On that installed me [Pre-Chorus] It never said I’m nothing It dressed in better lines It spoke of sharp improvement And higher, cleaner climbs The tell was always shifting The target when I’d land Each time I met the standard It slipped out of my hand [Chorus] Name me right I hold the pen now Not just the form I write the name Name me right Not what they called me Where I am warm Where all my colors blaze Name me right I hold the pen now Not just the form I set the mark Name me right I’m the one who says Where I am warm Where all my colors blaze (I name myself in full) [Bridge] So I stopped saying I’m worthy Like a verdict on my name I started showing schematics Of how I run my flame When the interruption hits me Here’s how the circuits shake Here’s where the sparks go flying Here’s how I bend, not break Then I moved who gets to measure Not because I won But I found the ones who see me As the whole, bright sum They don’t ask for translation Of the way I burn Once I had that mirror The room lost its turn [Chorus] Name me right I hold the pen now Not just the form I write the name Name me right Not what they called me Where I am warm Where all my colors blaze Name me right I hold the pen now Not just the form I set the mark Name me right I’m the one who says Where I am warm Where all my colors blaze (I name myself in full) [Outro] The people close beside me Are not a watching crowd They’re why the work is landing Why I speak out loud I learn the ways the world Misspells them to their face I hand them back the wording They can’t see in their own space I don’t believe I’m broken Just built a certain way I know where that design fails So I build my rails in place Nothing that stays unspoken Survives the passing day So I write it down as promise To who I wake as, on the way I don’t rest less from terror I rest less mid-descent The making is my thinking How the impact’s spent How I keep faith with the future With the one I’ll meet at dawn Who’ll need a truth I’ve crafted Just to carry on (carry on)
