[Spoken Intro – intimate young female voice]
Hey...
Before you tell me
what is wrong with me...
ask me what it feels like
in here.
[Verse 1]
They say, “Sit still,
look straight ahead
Keep all the fireworks
inside your head”
“Raise your hand
and wait your turn”
But I already saw
where the whole page turns
You call me careless
when I lose the thread
You don’t hear
the ten songs in my head
I’m not ignoring you
I’m trying to hold
A sky full of lightning
with two small hands alone
[Pre-Chorus]
Maybe I need help
Maybe I need space
Maybe I need someone
who can move at my pace
Give me tools
Give me time
But don’t erase my colors
just to keep me in the lines
[Chorus]
Don’t paint me quiet
Don’t turn my colors down
My mind is not a siren
just because it moves around
Help me find a rhythm
but don’t erase the way I glow
I’m not a problem to be managed
I’m a person
you should know
[Verse 2]
A label can be language
It can help explain
But don’t turn it to a cage
and lock it round my name
Some of us need medicine
Some need another way
But every one of us deserves
a voice in what you say
Ask me if I’m sleeping
Ask me if I’m free
Ask me if the help you gave me
still allows me to be me
[Pre-Chorus]
Maybe I need quiet
Maybe I need sound
Maybe I need movement
when you tell me to sit down
Give me choices
Let me speak
Different doesn’t mean
defective, wrong or weak
[Chorus]
Don’t paint me quiet
Don’t turn my colors down
My mind is not a siren
just because it moves around
Help me find a rhythm
but don’t erase the way I glow
I’m not a problem to be managed
I’m a person
you should know
[Bridge – building]
Don’t call silence healing
just because the room is calm
Don’t confuse obedience
with proof that nothing’s wrong
I can learn
I can listen
I can rise in my own way
Turn the volume down
if I ask you...
Don’t take the music away
[Final Chorus – young voices joining]
Don’t paint us quiet
Don’t turn our colors down
Our minds are constellations
you have never mapped or found
Help us find our rhythm
Let us show you how we glow
We are more than words
written on a form
We are people
you should know
[Spoken Outro – soft]
Hey...
I know that look.
You are not too much.
You are not an error.
You are still you.