[A riffing piano intro that builds steadily to a abrupt halt. Then the intro is half spoken, half sung without accompanying music] [Intro — sung, sparse] That voice has been with me since I was a kid, keepin' a list of every time I quit. [Verse 1 — melodic, rapped, conversational] First time I laced up, the voice had jokes, countin' all the New Year's I'd let go up in smoke. It said, look at you, you don't finish what you start, you'll be back on the couch by the second week of March. But I tied the second shoe and I stepped out anyway, into the cold with a body not getting a say. [Pre-Chorus — building] It used to set the pace of every step I'd take, now it's fallin' back, just screamin' at my wake. [Chorus — sung, anthemic] Say all you want, you're talkin' to a memory, I'm a hundred mornings past the man I used to be, you keep readin' from a page that I already turned, say it all you want. I'm not slowin' down. [Verse 2 — melodic, fuller, rapped] Now the proof ain't loud, it just shows in the small, I take the stairs at work and still finish the call, haul the whole week's groceries up in a single run, sleep straight through the night like my body finally won. [Pre-Chorus] It used to set the pace of every step I'd take, now it's fallin' back, just screamin' at my wake. [Chorus — sung, anthemic] Say all you want, you're talkin' to a memory, I'm a hundred mornings past the man I used to be, you keep readin' from a page that I already turned, say it all you want. I'm not slowin' down. [Bridge — half-time, building] I spent years tryin' to out-argue the doubt, like the right words said the right way would talk it out. But it never moved an inch when I begged or when I swore, you don't think your way past it. You walk out the door. It was never a fact, just a habit I'd rehearsed, and the day I finally moved, it all went in reverse. [Final Chorus — sung, full] Say all you want, you're talkin' to a memory, I'm a hundred mornings past the man I used to be, you keep readin' from a page that I already turned, say it all you want. I'm not slowin' down. (I'm not slowin' down.) [Outro — spoken, low] These days, I'm the one who shows up. Cold mornings. Heavy doors. The long way home. Whatever that voice still says — I'm the one who shows up. [Piano riffing to fading silence and white noise]
