[Intro]
Salt on the threshold
Ash on my tongue
I name this hurt
I call it undone
[Verse 1]
They carved their ghosts
Into my nerves
Called it “wisdom”
Called it “deserved”
They said “be brave”
But meant “don’t speak”
Turn your outrage
Into a neat
Small ache
[Pre-Chorus]
Hear it now
That tired refrain
“Pain makes you stronger”
As if I owe this pain
[Chorus]
I refuse inherited suffering
I cut that story from my skin (hey)
They told you hurt would make you steel
But that’s the lie that keeps you still
I choose evolution over enduring
I choose a future I can feel
I choose evolving
Not just surviving
I choose to break
To change
To heal
[Drop]
[Bass tears open
Warped vocal chop: “I refuse / I choose”]
[Verse 2]
Who profits most
When I stay small?
When every wound
Is called a “blessing” fall?
I am the glitch
In this old design
I bend the bars
Till they redraw the line
[Pre-Chorus]
Hear me now
Unlearn that spell
“Pain makes you stronger”
Can be its own cell
[Chorus]
I refuse inherited suffering
I shed that armor
Let it rust (oh)
They told you hurt would make you steel
But that’s the weight that keeps you kneeling
I choose evolution over enduring
I choose the risk of opening
I choose evolving
Not just surviving
I choose to rise
Not just withstand
[Bridge]
By salt and smoke
By breath and name
I send back shame
I return that blame
From spine to spine
This curse unbinds
What wasn’t mine
Falls off my mind
[Final Chorus]
I refuse inherited suffering
I break that pattern at the root (hey)
They told you hurt would make you strong
But I get to say when hurt is wrong
I choose evolution over enduring
I choose a self that gets to feel
I choose evolving
Not just surviving
I choose to live
I choose to heal