LYRIC FOR SALE

By Carolynne Wilson

She gets up every morning, puts her armour on
Plays the part they handed her and just moves along
Somewhere in the background, nobody looks her way
She swallows what she's feeling and gets through the day
But there's a storm behind those eyes they never bother to find
A whole damn universe they left behind

She was seventeen and fearless, had a fire in her chest
Walked into the working world and they took her best
Quietly she folded, learned to shrink and stay small
But you can only hold that back for so long before it breaks the wall

She's got a voice that shakes the ceiling
Got a brain that won't quit
A heart so full of feeling
They nearly buried it
She's not just somebody passing by
She's the thunder they mistook for quiet
Strong, alive and done with playing small
Watch her rise, watch her rise
She's bringing everything inside her to the outside
And she's done apologising for the fire

Strangeness all around her, everyone's a climber
Nobody gave her a hand unless they needed to find her
But she learned to build the bridges, kick the roadblocks down
Reached back for that teenage courage and she turned it all around
Stopped waiting to be chosen, stopped shrinking in her seat
Stood up in the middle of the room and found her feet

No more folding, no more fading out
No more silence when she's got so much to shout
She took every wall they built and made it a door
She's not who she was, she's so much more

She's got a voice that shakes the ceiling
Got a brain that won't quit
A heart so full of feeling
They nearly buried it
She's not just somebody passing by
She's the thunder they mistook for quiet
Strong, alive and done with playing small
Watch her rise, watch her rise
She's bringing everything inside her to the outside
And she's done apologising for the fire

You thought the quiet meant she had nothing to say
You thought the stillness meant she'd just fade away
But every single thing you overlooked and dismissed
Was building something bigger than you could have ever missed
She didn't break – she just waited for her moment
And honey, this is it

Inside out, outside in
She was always going to win
Inside out, outside in
She's letting all that light back in
Inside out – watch her begin

She's got a voice that shakes the ceiling
And she's done holding it in
A heart that kept on beating
Through everything
She's not just somebody you walk past anymore
She's the lightning and the thunder and the rain and the roar
Strong, alive, completely whole at last
Watch her rise, watch her rise
She brought everything inside her to the outside
And the world finally sees what we almost missed
She was always this