Permission to Breathe

[Verse 1]
I learned the shape of a borrowed smile
Held it in place for a thousand miles
Measured my words by the room's applause
Called it kindness, called it a cause

I kept my hands where they couldn't offend
Bent every want till it learned to pretend
But every good deed left me smaller inside
A quiet little life with nowhere to hide

[Pre-Chorus]
I can care without carrying
Every verdict to my bed
I can leave a door unopened
When the room lives in my head

[Chorus]
I am done asking permission to breathe
Done making a cage look like something I need
I won't hurt you, but I won't disappear
My life is mine, and I'm finally here

Let the old rules rattle and fall
I don't owe my heart to them all
If joy comes knocking, I'll open the door
I was surviving—I'm living once more

[Verse 2]
There were names for the way I should stand
A proper little map drawn across my hands
Wear the right face, choose the safe road
Smile when the weight gets too heavy to hold

I know the line between freedom and blame
I won't turn my peace into somebody's pain
But I won't confuse being good with being gone
Or trade my morning for a script written wrong

[Pre-Chorus]
I can listen without surrendering
I can change when I am wrong
But the voice that says be smaller
Doesn't get to write my song

[Chorus]
I am done asking permission to breathe
Done making a cage look like something I need
I won't hurt you, but I won't disappear
My life is mine, and I'm finally here

Let the old rules rattle and fall
I don't owe my heart to them all
If joy comes knocking, I'll open the door
I was surviving—I'm living once more

[Bridge]
Maybe they will call it selfish
Maybe they will call it strange
I have spent too long mistaking
Their discomfort for my shame

Keep your blessing, keep your warning
Keep the future you designed
I will meet the day as myself now
With both hands open, both eyes wide

[Final Chorus]
I am done asking permission to breathe
Done making a cage look like something I need
I won't hurt you, but I won't disappear
My life is mine, and I'm finally here

Let the old rules rattle and fall
I don't owe my heart to them all
If joy comes knocking, I'll open the door
I was surviving—I'm living once more

[Outro]
I can be kind and still be free
I can choose what belongs to me
No more borrowed life, no more borrowed name
I walk toward joy without apology or shame