[Intro] [Verse 1] Woke up fluent in the worst-case, native tongue of "what goes wrong" Been speaking doom since I was seven, got the grammar down, been at it too long So I taped a little phrasebook and a bright side to the fridge Repeat after me, "it might work out" — my mouth don't fit around it yet [Pre-Chorus] So I practice in the mirror, roll the sunny vowels around Sounds like somebody else's voice, but I'm starting to like how it sounds [Chorus] Optimism, my second language Still got an accent, still get the tenses wrong You ask me how I'm doing, I go "good" and it don't crack Optimism, I'm not fluent yet, but I'm learning how to talk [Verse 2] Ordered "everything's fine" at the counter, came out like a question mark Tried to say "tomorrow's gonna be better," stuck the landing halfway in the dark But the more I say the sentences, the less they sound like lies Fake the accent long enough and one clear morning it arrives [Pre-Chorus] So I practice on the good days, save the phrases for the bad Borrow all the words for hope I never had [Chorus] Optimism, my second language Still got an accent, still get the tenses wrong You ask me how I'm doing, I go "good" and it don't crack Optimism, I'm not fluent yet, but I'm learning how to talk [Bridge] You speak it like you're born to it, hope rolls right off of your tongue And when I mangle up a hopeful line, you don't laugh, you just help me along "Say it slow," you tell me, "say it like it's true" And somewhere in the middle of the sentence, I believe you [Instrumental solo] [Final Chorus] Optimism, my second language Still got an accent, but I'm getting kind of good You ask me how I'm doing, I say "great" and I half-mean it Optimism, I ain't fluent yet — but baby, knock on wood [Outro]
