"Take Me or Let Me Go"

I don't wake up pretty

Hair like a hayfield, heart like stone

Coffee strong and bitter

That's the only sweetness that I know

I got scars from loving

I got lines from all the letting go

So if you want the package

You take the heavy with the soul

I ain't no porcelain

I ain't no prayer

I'm just a woman

With too much wear

Take me the way I am

Or leave me in the dust where I began

I won't bend, I won't break

I won't fake it for your sake

Take me the way I am

Or let me go

I talk too loud at midnight

I cry at commercials on TV

I hold on too tight to heartache

And I pray when I don't believe

I got a past like thunder

I got dreams that never let me sleep

So if you want this wildfire

You take the burning with the heat

I ain't no angel

I ain't no saint

I'm just honest

Even when it ain't

Take me the way I am

Or leave me in the dust where I began

I won't bend, I won't break

I won't fake it for your sake

Take me the way I am

Or let me go

Instrumental break with vocal runs

Ooh-ooh-ooh, da-da-da-da, mmm-mmm

Run: Take me as I a-a-a-am, whoa-oh-oh

Scat: Ba-da-ba-da-boom, sha-da-da-day

Run: Or just walk a-wa-a-a-ay, mmm-hmm

Scat: Do-be-do-be-doo, sha-na-na-na

Run: I am what I a-a-a-am, yeah-eah

Scat: Shoo-bee-doo-wah, da-da-da-da-dum

Take me the way I a-a-a-am run

Or leave me in the du-u-u-st run

Where I bega-a-a-an run

I won't be-e-e-end run

I won't brea-ea-eak run

I won't fa-a-ake it run

For your sa-a-a-ake run

Take me the way I am

Or let me go

Soft scat: Mmm-mmm, sha-da-da, whoa-oh

Just let me go

Final run: Let me go-o-o-o, mmm-hmm