Authentically Me

[Intro - whispered] I used to count every word Every look, every reason they might walk away I used to think being good meant being quiet Not anymore [Verse 1] I used to bite my tongue until it bled Just to keep the peace inside my head I wore a smile when I wanted to scream Became the person they wanted to see I said I'm fine when I wasn't okay Said what they wanted just to make them stay I built a prison out of yes and please Till I couldn't recognize the face in me [Pre-Chorus] But every time I swallowed my truth I lost another piece of you The person underneath the skin The one I was afraid to let begin [Chorus] I don't care what you think of me I'm done being who you want to see No more chains, no more pretending No more bending till I'm breaking Being nice doesn't make me good Being polite doesn't mean I should Tell you what you wanna hear Just to keep you standing here This isn't for you, this isn't for them This is for me—authentically me [Post-Chorus] Whoa-oh-oh, I won't disappear Whoa-oh-oh, I finally hear myself [Verse 2] There's a difference between kindness and fear Between telling the truth and keeping it unclear There's a difference between peace and disguise And I'm done apologizing for being alive You can call me selfish, you can call me cold You can call me everything you were scared I'd become But I'd rather stand alone with the truth in my bones Than live another second as somebody else's ghost [Verse 3] I spent too many years trying to belong Cutting out the pieces of myself that felt wrong But every scar became a warning sign You don't find yourself by leaving yourself behind [Chorus] I don't care what you think of me I'm done being who you want to see No more chains, no more pretending No more bending till I'm breaking Being nice doesn't make me good Being polite doesn't mean I should Tell you what you wanna hear Just to keep you standing here This isn't for you, this isn't for them This is for me—authentically me [Bridge - spoken, then rising] Rise, rise from the silence Break through the violence The voice you buried is alive I spent my whole life trying not to disappoint everybody else But what happens when disappointing them Means finally choosing yourself? [Breakdown] No more swallowing the words No more living unheard No more wearing your approval Like a crown around my neck You don't get to define me You don't get to rewrite me You don't get to tell me who I'm supposed to be I know who I am [Final Chorus] I don't care what you think of me I'm done being who you want to see Let the whole damn world keep talking I'm still here and I'm still walking Being nice doesn't make me good Being polite doesn't mean I should Sell my soul to make you comfortable Or make myself invisible This isn't for you, this isn't for them I'm not your perfect version of me This is for me—authentically me [Outro] Authentically me Authentically me