I spent my whole life saying This is just who I am. Funny. Most of the time I didn't even ask him. [Verse 1] I learned everybody's weather before I learned my own Felt storms coming from the changing of a tone Knew when to make 'em laugh, knew when to disappear Called it understanding — most days it was fear Gave everybody room then stood outside the door Told myself I needed nothing, they just needed more Swallowed every feeling that might make somebody leave Then called it fucking loyalty when really— I was fucking leaving me. [Pre-Chorus] Don't make them villains They didn't write these rules Some people hurt me I hurt some people too No saints, no fucking enemies Just one thing left to prove— **I finally choose me too.** **[Chorus]** **I STAY** But not the way I stayed before Not bleeding on the welcome mat To keep somebody at the fucking door **I STAY** The love, the rage, the scars, the flaws I'm done apologising just for taking up my share I'm not becoming someone new I'm done becoming less for you If you wanna know me well, here I fucking am. **[Verse 2]** I've been the problem, I've been right I've turned a moment to a fight Heard rejection where there wasn't any there Made myself useful when I couldn't trust you cared Fixed everybody 'cause fixing gave me worth Then wondered why nobody noticed when I hurt Called myself "too much" while giving me away Then blamed the fucking world when I taught myself to fade. **There's your fucking exposé.** No defence. No disguise. I can finally look that bastard dead in the eyes— And I fucking like him. **[Bridge — beat building underneath]** I fought against the truths other people gave to me Every version of my worth every man they said I'd be Some were wrong Some were right Some I proved myself at night But nobody carried this drive. Nobody survived it for me. Nobody rescued Angry Dad. **I became me anyway.** This voice is mine. This drive is mine. This fucking life is mine. And I didn't fight this hard to find myself just to leave that man behind. **[Breakdown — swagger, half-spoken]** And if I'm too much? **Get a smaller fucking spoon.** Don't expect a smaller portion just to make more room for you Leftovers happen You don't have to choke me down Take what you can hold **But don't ask me to water myself down.** That's not anger. That's not pride. **That's the fucking boundary.** And I know what happens to me when I step across that line. So I won't. **[Final Chorus — explosive]** **I STAY** When being me gets uncomfortable When somebody doesn't understand When loving me gets complicated **I don't let go of my own hand.** When I'm wrong, I'll fucking own it When I'm hurt, I'll let it show I can love you without losing me **That's something I didn't know.** You don't need less So I can have more And I won't become less of me to keep somebody I adore I can stand beside you without leaving me behind **This life is mine. This voice is mine. And here's the fucking line.** **[Outro — piano, heartbeat]** I stay till the fucking end. **My end.** Then I stay in eight different stories In stupid jokes Old mistakes Every fucking song I wrote One day my chair will be empty. **Good.** Let it look empty. Because I finally stopped disappearing while I was still sitting in it. I spent years afraid being completely myself might make somebody leave. Turns out... The person I was losing was me. **Not anymore.** I stay till the fucking end. Then I'll stay a little more because my absence is noticed— **not fucking expected.** *[heartbeat]* *[silence]*
