Not A Concept

Verse 1

I walk into a room and feel the shift

Eyes before words, before my name exists

I’m measured, ranked, reduced in a glance

Like my body entered first, not my chance

I speak, but my worth’s already priced

Too loud, too soft, too much, too nice

I’m listened to halfway, if at all

Until I’m useful, pleasing, small

Pre-Chorus

They say it’s natural, harmless, fine

But it teaches me I’m not fully mine

Chorus

I’m not a concept, a body, a test

Not something you earn or something you assess

Don’t talk over me, then look me through

Like my silence is an open cue

This anger isn’t wild or new

It’s what grows when you’re always being viewed

Verse 2

I’m complimented like it’s currency

Expected to accept it graciously

If I push back, I “can’t take a joke”

If I accept, it’s taken as hope

I’m told I owe softness, warmth, desire

That refusal is rude, that no’s a liar

I set a line, I’m cold instead

I don’t, and I’m blamed for what’s said

Pre-Chorus

It’s not just words, it’s the weight they bring

The way they follow me into everything

Chorus

I’m not decoration or validation

Not therapy, fantasy, or temptation

I deserve respect without performance

Without being reduced to appearance

This anger isn’t hate or pride

It’s what remains when dignity’s tried

Bridge

I know not every man thinks this way

But enough do, loudly or quietly

And enough stay silent when it’s seen

Like comfort matters more than decency

I don’t want to be “one of the good ones”

Or safe because I comply

I want to exist without being consumed

By someone else’s eye

Chorus (Lower, Steadier)

I’m not asking to never be seen

I’m asking to be seen completely

Let my mind arrive before my skin

Let my no be final, not a negotiation

This anger is measured, but it’s real

It’s the sound of a boundary learning to speak

Outro

I am not here for your approval

Or to soften the world for you

I am a person, whole and present

And I expect to be treated like one, too