[Intro | soft piano, soft guitar, atmospheric]
(Ooh...)
The world keeps talking, telling me who to be
But when the noise fades away
There’s only one voice left...
You.
[Verse 1 | whispered, close-mic, intimate]
I hear the whispers in the hallway
“Maybe you should change your way”
Every word becomes a mirror
Showing someone else’s face
They say, “Be brighter, be stronger”
“Maybe you could be someone new”
But when I close my eyes at midnight
I still come back to you
The version of me nobody knows
The dreams I keep beneath my clothes
If I lose myself to make them stay
Then tell me, what is left of me?
[Pre-chorus | building vocals rising]
Maybe I could change
Maybe I could hide
Maybe I could become
What they want tonight
But something in my heart
Keeps calling out my name
And I can feel it saying...
[Chorus | powerful, layered vocals, strings swell]
You, you, you
Who are you gonna be?
Will you bend beneath their words
Or stand and finally breathe?
You, you, you
Don't let them write your truth
The world can change around you
But don't let it change you
If you lose everybody
Just to become somebody new
When the lights go down
Will you still recognize you?
[Verse 2 | slightly stronger, growls, more confident]
(Yeah...)
I've been walking through the pressure
I've been carrying their eyes
Every judgment like a shadow
Following me through the night
But I'm done chasing reflections
That were never mine to hold
I don't need their approval
To know the worth inside my soul
(Mm...)
Let them talk, let them wonder
Let them say what they wanna say
I was never born to fit
Inside somebody else's frame
[Pre-chorus 2 | powerful, ad-libs, high/low contrast]
Maybe I will change
But I'll choose the way
I'll grow into tomorrow
Without throwing me away
(You know who you are...)
And if the whole world turns away
I'll still hear my heart say...
Stay... stay...
(Stay true)
Don't run away...
(Don't change)
[Chorus | anthemic, full arrangement]
You, you, you
Who are you gonna be?
Will you bend beneath their words
Or stand and finally breathe?
You, you, you
Don't let them write your truth
The world can change around you
But don't let it change you
(You!)
You don't have to be perfect
(You!)
You don't have to be new
(You!)
You only have to remember
The person inside of you
[Bridge | stripped back, solo guitar, raw emotion]
Maybe someday I'll change
Maybe that's okay
Growing doesn't mean
I have to fade away
I'll learn from my mistakes
I'll become someone stronger
But I'll carry every piece of me
That brought me here
So if tomorrow asks me
“Who do you want to be?”
I won't answer with their voices...
I'll answer with me.
[Outro | fade, gentle, resolving]
(Softly...)
You...
Stay close to your heart
Even when the world gets loud
You...
Change when you need to grow
But never change just to be loved
(Ooh...)
The question was never
“Who do they want you to be?”
It was always...
“Who will you choose to be?”
You...
It's Just... You...