Penny for Your Thoughts [Verse 1] A penny for your thoughts— I flipped it to a dollar in your honor. Called you a baller… Long gone-er. Funny how the ones who never bled Always know the cost. You never crossed the roads I did, So you could never count my loss. Real don’t sell— That’s why truth gets bent. I stood on corners Where Heaven paid the rent. Where mercy met judgment And neither one relented. I gave away my heart Like it owed somebody change. You handed back opinions Like they carried equal weight. [Pre-Chorus] “I’ll tell you who you aren’t.” That was your favorite part. While I was losing light, You memorized the dark. I dimmed myself To fit inside your frame— Never knowing I’d still be the one to catch the blame. [Chorus] I never felt good. Not how I should. Still that little engine in the hood— Chugga chugga… Doing what it could. If I was dying, It looked like being misunderstood. Pain was acceptable… Unless it lived inside your mind. So I apologized For every tear I’d cry. Convinced myself My heart was always lying. Turns out trauma Doesn’t disappear. It just waits Until the room gets quiet enough For you to hear. And when they offered To fix what I tried to hide— I thanked them… Never realizing I’d mistaken survival For being alive. [Verse 2] No final answer. No miracle cure. Just another clipboard. Another open door. Another name For a feeling Nobody could afford. Every appointment Asked me who I’d been. Nobody asked Who I was Before I learned to pretend. Labels stacked higher Than the hope I carried in. Everybody searching For a chemical beginning. Maybe the medicine Saves somebody. Maybe it gives Someone tomorrow. Mine was learning Not every wound Can be swallowed. Some things Need grieving. Some things Need truth. Some things Need one person To finally believe you. [Pre-Chorus] Agreement In every word you say. No room for wonder. No room for gray. Everybody wants certainty. Nobody wants pain. Until it’s theirs… Then nothing Looks the same. [Chorus] The psychotic. The neurotic. The dreamers. The addicts. The gifted kid Who couldn’t survive perfection. The exhausted mother Running on resurrection. The bullied child. The bully. The quiet one Nobody studied. The teenager Practicing somebody else’s reflection. People in real pain. People doing The best they can. Not broken— Just trying To understand. “You’ll be okay.” Maybe. But healing Isn’t pretending You never hurt. Healing Is learning You were never worth less Because it hurt first. [Bridge] So whose game Was I playing? Whose voice Was I obeying? Am I crazy? Or just tired Of carrying chains Somebody else named? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m right. Either way— Morning still follows The longest night. So I’ll keep praying. Keep building. Keep choosing another sunrise. Because giving up Means never meeting The version of me That finally opens her own eyes. [Final Chorus] Every scar. Every mistake. Every shattered piece I couldn’t replace. Every lonely drive. Every sleepless night. Every time I questioned Whether I’d survive. Led me here. Still breathing. Still believing. Still becoming. I’m not peaceful Every day. But I’m honest. And that’s worth More than fitting Inside somebody else’s promise. If that’s crazy— Then let crazy breathe. If that’s crazy— Don’t rescue me. Keep your penny. Keep your seat. Stand back— I’m finally speaking. No borrowed voice. No borrowed name. No more shrinking To survive the flame. I’m standing On my own two feet. [Outro] The penny bought silence. The dollar bought testimony. Funny how my thoughts Became expensive The moment I stopped disappearing. You couldn’t hear me While I was surviving. Now you’ll spend forever Wondering What I was trying to give. And I’ll spend forever Living The truth I fought so hard to forgive. That’s the price Of my vision. And this— Is my decision.
