[Intro - Spoken, Acoustic] "Just be yourself," they said. "And strong. Don't get carried away. Don't show weakness, it's okay. You don't have to like it, just do it. Just survive." [Verse 1 - Rap] Learned to shelve myself, they called it selfless praise, Calcified compassion, cartilage in chains. Resilience meant “don’t bend,” so I froze my veins, Built a bunker outta backbone, ceiling wallpapered with pain. Fortress from fragments, fake grin on the gate, Prison outta protection — now I’m trapped in the weight. [Pre-Chorus - Acoustic, Half-Sung] Different is good—they lied. It means you're meaningless, Lost inside the crowd. [Chorus - Acoustic Slowcore] "Just be yourself," I know. (Who am I now?) "And strong. Don't get carried away. (Carry me somehow.) Don't show weakness, it's okay. (Hide it in plain sight.) You don't have to like it, just do it anyway (Do it, do it, hold tight.) Just survive." (Just survive, just survive.) Turn a blind eye, cover your ears, (Do you hear me?) Just keep moving, don't look that way. (Please believe me.) Pretend it's air, pretend it's noise, (I'm the echo in your noise.) No one really cares about your real voice. (I'm the ghost of your real voice.) [Verse 2 - Rap] Armor isn’t iron, it’s introductions stacked, False assumptions bending quiet, hidden in the cracks. Practiced pleasantries smoothing sharper edges down, Secret pledges piling up, silence wearing the crown. Different means unique — but misread, misfeared, It means you’re meaningless when the room disappears. Just a speck, unimportant, drifting in regret, Forgotten in the universe, a name they never kept. [Bridge - Rap / Spoken Word] Apologies qualifying honesty, Translate my tragedy, commodify the oddity. Lose the audience before I lose myself, Stand alone instead of selling off the shelf. Halo of the humming light, silence in the night, Boom bap in my chest, words I never write. [Final Chorus / Outro - Acoustic Slowcore] "Just be yourself," I know! (Who did I bury to survive?) "And strong. Don't get carried away." (Strength is learning how to cry.) (Fuck it) — (spoken, deadpan) "Don't show weakness, it's okay." (Weakness kept my hope alive.) (Shut up) — (spoken, deadpan) "You don't have to like it, just do it, come on. Just survive." (Or finally step outside.) Turn a blind eye, cover your ears, (Or open them wide.) Keep on moving, don't look that way. (Or turn toward the light.) Pretend it's air, pretend it's noise... (Till the noise becomes your choice.) Maybe before you die, you will finally hear your voice. (I'm the ghost of your true voice.) Just Survive. [Abrupt End]
