[Opening - no tempo]
[Grand piano, one low chord]
[Voice alone, very close]
Don’t interrupt me.
Not this time.
[Piano waits]
I’ve spent years
stopping halfway through a sentence
because somebody else
looked uncomfortable.
[Cello enters after the last word]
[Verse 1 - free phrasing]
I learned how to say:
“It’s fine.”
Quickly.
Cleanly.
Before anyone
had to ask twice.
I learned how to laugh
right at the point
where the truth
would have made the room quiet.
[Small pause]
Very useful skill.
Terrible habit.
[Cello answers with descending phrase]
You told me once:
“You never tell me
what you feel.”
I nearly laughed.
I had told you.
A hundred times.
Just never
with words.
I told you
when I stopped eating
at the table.
When I started
taking longer routes home.
When “I’m tired”
began meaning
something
sleep couldn’t fix.
[Strings begin underneath]
[Pre-Chorus]
But maybe
that wasn’t fair.
Maybe silence
only feels obvious
to the person
inside it.
[Voice stops]
[Everything stops]
[Whisper]
So let me try again.
[Verse 2 - steady pulse begins]
[Piano + low timpani heartbeat]
I was angry.
There.
That’s one.
I was scared.
There’s another.
I hated
how easily
everybody else
seemed to know
what came next.
Career.
House.
Children.
Smile for the picture.
I stood there
holding the same questions
like broken glass
inside both hands.
And every time
someone asked:
“What’s wrong?”
I said:
“Nothing.”
[Voice cracks]
Nothing.
[Cello rises]
Nothing!
[Full drums enter for first time]
[Chorus - guitars arrive because the voice explodes]
LET ME FINISH!
I’M NOT DONE YET!
DON’T TURN MY PAIN
INTO SOMETHING
EASIER TO ACCEPT!
LET ME FINISH!
LET ME GET IT WRONG!
I’VE BEEN SWALLOWING
EVERY UGLY WORD
JUST TO KEEP
EVERYBODY CALM!
[Voice screams, band follows]
I’M NOT CALM!
[Guitars hit]
I’M ALIVE!
[Sudden silence]
[Breathing]
[Verse 3 - only voice + violin]
I don’t need
an answer.
That’s the thing.
I don’t need
a lesson.
Or a quote.
Or somebody
turning my worst night
into a reason
everything happens.
Sometimes
something hurts
because it hurt.
That’s enough.
[Violin sustains]
And sometimes
the bravest thing
a person can say
is:
“I don’t know
what to do with this.”
[Bridge - orchestra follows voice freely]
[Voice, low baritone]
I loved people badly.
[Cello]
I hurt people
while trying not to.
[Violins]
I stayed
when I should have left.
[Timpani]
I left
when I should have stayed.
[Voice rises]
And I am tired
of polishing
every confession
until it sounds
like I learned
the perfect lesson.
[Band begins rising]
Maybe I didn’t.
Maybe I’m still
in the middle of it.
[Voice tears]
Maybe—
[All instruments stop]
LET ME FINISH!
[Final Chorus - full orchestra + rock + choir]
LET ME FINISH!
THIS IS MY VOICE!
NOT THE CLEANEST ONE!
NOT THE SAFEST CHOICE!
LET ME FINISH!
LET IT CRACK!
LET IT SHAKE!
LET THE STRINGS FOLLOW ME
IF I HAVE TO BREAK!
I’M ANGRY!
[Choir answers]
SAY IT!
I’M SCARED!
[Choir]
SAY IT!
I’M TIRED!
[Choir]
SAY IT!
[Lead, highest cracked scream]
BUT I’M STILL HERE!
[Orchestra explodes]
AND FOR TONIGHT...
THAT’S ALL
I KNOW!
[Outro - everything falls away]
[Only piano]
[Voice exhausted, almost speaking]
See?
That wasn’t
so difficult.
[Small pause]
It was.
[Piano resolves]
