The House That Learned My Name

[Intro — whispered] They said, “Walk a mile in her shoes…” But the shoes were full of blood. And the road kept laughing. [Verse 1] I was born where the sirens sang lullabies, Learned to sleep with one eye open under violent skies. Childhood came with teeth, yeah, it bit me clean, Taught me how to disappear before I learned to dream. I ran so far from the ghosts in my head, Left pieces of myself on the pavement instead. Toenails gone, but I still kept pace, Fear had a name and it wore my face. April Fools came knocking with a surgical grin, Infection in my spine trying to crawl back in. Blood in the bags, metal in the bone, Hospital lights said, “You’re never alone.” [Pre-Chorus] And everybody’s got a story, But mine scratches through the walls. You don’t hear a victim crying— You hear something ancient crawl. [Chorus] Welcome to the house that learned my name, Every room is haunted, every mirror looks the same. I made friends with the monsters underneath my bed, Joker in the hallway, Freddy in my head. Don’t tell me about darkness, I sleep inside the flame, Don’t tell me about nightmares, I baptized them in pain. Walk a mile in my shoes? You won’t make it through the rain— This is the house, the house that learned my name. [Verse 2] Had a seizure in the lobby where the doctors should’ve cared, They called me a ride like my demons paid the fare. Birthday candles flickered, then my body hit the floor, I woke up wondering, “What’s another scar for?” Mother’s Day came dressed like a curse in bloom, Shaved my head clean just to make myself room. Another Mother’s Day, running from the dread, My feet started breaking for the words I never said. Deadbeat ghosts, scapegoat chains, Gossip in the walls like rats in the drains. Nosy little vampires at the window of my life, Wanting blood from my story but not handing me a knife. [Pre-Chorus] I swallowed crowns, vomited demons, Prayed with my spine in chains. If my life is just a joke, Then the punchline has my name. [Chorus] Welcome to the house that learned my name, Every room is haunted, every mirror looks the same. I made friends with the monsters underneath my bed, Chucky in the kitchen, Jigsaw by the steps. Don’t tell me about darkness, I sleep inside the flame, Don’t tell me about nightmares, I baptized them in pain. Walk a mile in my shoes? You won’t make it through the rain— This is the house, the house that learned my name. [Bridge — slow, eerie] I am not the girl they buried. I am not the lamb they tied. I am not the joke they laughed at When I almost didn’t survive. I’m the whisper in the floorboards, I’m the shadow in the frame. I’m the thing they tried to silence— Now the silence screams my name. [Breakdown — rap/spoken, intense] I ran from my problems till my body came apart, Still dragged my skeleton through the dark. Metal in my spine, blood in my veins, Laughing at death like, “Try me again.” You wouldn’t survive one page of my book, One night in my head, one second I shook. I don’t need pity, I don’t need fear, I need the whole damn world to hear— I lived through the punchline. I lived through the knife. I lived through the horror. Now I write the life. [Final Chorus — bigger, anthemic] Welcome to the house that learned my name, Every room is haunted, but I’m dancing with the pain. I made peace with the monsters underneath my bed, Now they bow when I rise from the dead. Don’t tell me about darkness, I became the flame, Don’t tell me about nightmares, I gave each one a name. Walk a mile in my shoes? You won’t make it through the rain— I own the house, the house that learned my name. [Outro — whispered] April laughed. The blood ran. The spine held. The girl stood. And every monster knew… She was the final one.