Not Answering

you can keep texting...
i’m not here...
i was never really here for you...
i’m not here anymore...
i’m somewhere else...[Intro]

[Verse 1]
saw your countdown, saw your threat
numbers on a screen, no regret
left it on delivered with my name
left it on delivered through the pain
you think my name is yours to spend
like a password you won’t pretend
like a dollar you can break
like a promise you can fake
i was quiet then
i was quiet when
i am not now
not now
not anymore
not for you
not for anyone

[Pre-Chorus 1]
every screenshot is a mirror
hold it up and it’s clearer
show them who you are, it’s clearer
show them what you do when you’re scared
i don’t need to beg you to stop
i don’t need to scream to be heard
i don’t need to prove i’m enough
i just need to watch you drop
watch you...
watch you fall apart
watch you lose the part
you wrote for me

[Chorus 1]
READ RECEIPTS OFF
DOORS ARE LOCKED
YOU CAN HAVE MY PAST
BUT YOU DON’T GET THE CLOCK
I’M NOT SCARED OF YOUR 3AM
I’M NOT SHAKING IN MY BED
I’M AWAKE
YOU CAN WATCH ME NOT ANSWER AGAIN
NOT ANSWER AGAIN
NOT ANSWER

[Post-Chorus]
let it echo... let it echo...
he’s talking to no one...
no one...
no one’s listening...

[Verse 2]
kept your warnings like souvenirs
from a place i don’t live in
stacked ‘em up beside my fears
on a shelf i don’t believe in
year by year, tear by tear
word by word, you made it clear
thought they’d pile up into shame
thought they’d spell out my name
thought they’d be my epitaph
but i lit a match and had to laugh
‘cause i learned your name
is just a word i don’t say
not today
not today
not ever again
you’re not even in the sentence

[Pre-Chorus 2]
you said i’d break if you exposed me
said the world would unchoose me
said my mother would disown me
that shame would be the thing that chose me
but nothing’s quiet, nothing’s safe
nothing sacred, nothing saved
nothing solid, nothing stained
nothing is exactly what you’ll take
nothing you can take from me
nothing left for you to see
nothing left for you to keep

[Chorus 2]
READ RECEIPTS OFF!
DOORS ARE LOCKED!
YOU CAN HAVE MY PAST
BUT YOU DON’T GET THE CLOCK!
I’M NOT SCARED OF YOUR 3AM
I’M NOT HIDING WHO I AM!
I’M AWAKE!
YOU CAN WATCH ME NOT ANSWER AGAIN!
NOT ANSWER AGAIN!
NOT ANSWER!

[Bridge 1]
post it!
don’t!
i don’t care!
your power’s air!
i inhale!
ELSEWHERE!
you can leak the ocean
i taught myself to swim
you can flood the city
i don’t live in it
you can burn the pictures
i’m not in the print
you can scream my secrets
i don’t live in them
i don’t live in them anymore!
i moved out yesterday!

breathe... just breathe...
he’s not in this room...
he’s not in this house...
he’s not in this city...
he’s not in this body...
he’s not in this body anymore...
he never was...[Breakdown]

[Verse 3]
you hung my secrets on a thread
said “watch ‘em fall” inside my head
tied my worth to what you said
tied my name to what you did
but i cut the string when you weren’t looking
when you were busy booking threats
when you were busy writing checks
your mouth couldn’t cash
now the floor is yours for taking
take it all
take the walls
take the roof
take the proof
i’m not there
i was never really there
you were talking to a ghost

[Bridge 2]
i used to think your silence was loud
used to think your voice was a crowd
used to think i owed you my doubt
now i hear mine
and it’s a crowd
of me
just me
only me
and we are loud
and we are breathing
and we are free

[Final Chorus]
READ RECEIPTS OFF!
DOORS ARE LOCKED!
YOU CAN HAVE MY PAST
BUT YOU DON’T GET THE CLOCK!
I’M NOT SCARED OF YOUR 3AM
I’M NOT WHO I WAS THEN!
I’M ALIVE!
YOU CAN WATCH ME NOT ANSWER!
NOT ANSWER!
NOT ANSWER!
YOU DON’T GET AN ANSWER!
YOU DON’T GET ME!
YOU NEVER DID!

timer hit zero while you were talking.
i heard the silence.
and it sounded like me.
like me breathing.
like me living.
i’m gone.
i’m free.
i’m me.[Outro]