[INTRO - whispered, breath-soft] Before there was a story there was a name. Before the thing had a shape someone called it. And it came closer. [Verse 1] I learned to name my fears before they had a face Gave every shadow language Gave every silence place I called myself broken until the word grew roots I called myself afraid and fear became the truth I wore the names they gave me like stones beneath my skin Until I asked myself Who taught me to believe in them? [Pre-Chorus] Because a word can open What a lifetime keeps shut A word can build a doorway Or tell the heart to run [Chorus] Name it And it listens Call it And it comes Choose the word You place upon it Choose the thing You call yourself Name it Name it But be careful what you name [Verse 2] I named the wound forgiveness before it understood I named the dark a doorway when I finally could I called my grief a teacher My silence something wise I stopped calling myself lost When I changed the way I looked Some names are handed down Before we learn to choose Some words become a prison Simply because we heard them young So I am taking back The language of my skin The names that never fitted The stories I lived in [Pre-Chorus] Because a word can open What a lifetime keeps shut A word can plant a forest In the place where nothing was [Chorus] Name it And it listens Call it And it comes Choose the word You place upon it Choose the thing You call yourself Name it Name it But be careful what you name [Instrumental Interlude] [Field-recorded wind] [Fingerpicked nylon guitar] [Low cello-like drone] [Soft women’s voices, distant] Name it... Name it... Name it... [Bridge - intimate, almost spoken] But not everything needs a name. Not every wound needs a story. Not every shadow needs a throne. Some things can remain unnamed until they are ready to become something else. Some things need silence. Some things need time. Some things need only to be witnessed. [Silence] And some things... need to be called home. [Build] I call myself becoming. I call myself alive. I call the buried parts of me back into the light. I call my body worthy. I call my voice my own. I call the woman underneath it all back to her bones. [Female harmonies begin layering] I am not what they called me. I am not what I feared. I am not every word that was spoken over me. I choose the names that stay. I choose the words that grow. I choose what I carry. I choose what I let go. [Final Chorus - wide communal women’s voices] Name it And it listens. Call it And it comes. Choose the word You place upon it. Choose the thing You call yourself. Name it Name it. Speak it like you mean it. Name it Name it. But be careful what you make. [Communal Chant] I name the light. I name the light. I name the life. I name the life. I name what stays. I name what stays. I release what isn't mine. I name the light. I name the light. I name myself. I name myself. I choose the word. I choose the word. I choose what grows. [Final Chant - layered women’s voices] Name it. Name it. Name it. Call it closer. Name it. Name it. Name it. Let it become. [Outro - solo female, breath-soft] Before there was a story there was a name. And now... I choose mine.
