[Verse 1]
Hand-me-down jeans
Never fit my thighs
Pulled at my shirt
Tried to shrink my size
Family dinners
“Eat
You’re way too thin”
Same old voices
Never fit my skin
[Pre-Chorus]
Tired of folding myself just to fit in a frame
Changing my name
Changing my shade
They said “blend in”
But I’m done with that game
I’m done with that game
Yeah
[Chorus]
This is my skin
My skin
My skin (hey!)
Brown
Beige
Freckled
Golden tint
Wide hips
Soft belly
Yeah I’m in
We don’t hide
We don’t dim
This is my skin
My skin
My skin (woah)
From my mama
From where I’ve been
Whole world told us “shame that grin”
Now we dance in what we’re in
This is my skin
My skin
My skin
[Verse 2]
Grandma’s old photo
Same curve in her nose
Map of our country
In the way my hair grows
Laugh lines already
At twenty-two years
Every little mark
Is a souvenir
[Pre-Chorus]
Tired of erasing my roots from the story they tell
Straighten the curl
Soften the swell
They said “be less”
But I wear it too well
I wear it too well
Yeah
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
[low vocal register] Dark
Light
Caramel
Copper
All of us carry the altar
Of every mother and daughter and son
[gang vocals
Half-shouted] We come from somewhere
We don’t run
From big arms
Big dreams
Broad shoulders
Thick hair
Deep tones
All over
Hands up
Hands up if you’re done
Hating the place you’re from (hey!)
[Chorus]