You Were Never Broken

I was born in the pressure, raised in the noise With a fist full of silence and a chest full of choice Had a head full of thunder, had a mouth full of blood Had to crawl through the concrete just to stand in the mud

They said, “Look at him now, he’s a crack in the glass” But I learned from the fracture how to sharpen the past Every cut was a letter, every bruise was a code Every night that I carried made my backbone grow

I got war in my breathing, got fire in my feet Got a graveyard of versions that could not bury me I don’t run from the mirror, I don’t hide from the flame I shook hands with the monster and I gave him my name

You can call it pain I call it proof You can call it loss I call it truth You can call it breaking But you better look closer I was not destroyed I was built under pressure

[Pre-Chorus] Say it with your chest now Say it like a riot If they called you weak Make the whole room silent

[Chorus] You were never broken You were never dead You were forged in the fire With a crown in your head

You were never finished You were never small You were learning how to stand When the world made you crawl

Tell them I’m still breathing Tell them I’m still chosen Tell them I was never broken

[Verse 2] Fast now

I’ve been beaten by doubt, dragged down by fear Had my dreams put to sleep for a couple bad years Had the weight on my neck and the dark in my veins Had to smile through the storm like I liked all the rain

But I climbed, climbed, climbed with a blade in my spine Had to fight my own mind on the edge of the line Had to lose what I loved, had to burn what I knew Had to bury the boy just to raise something true

This ain’t therapy music, this is blood on the drum This is running at death while the cowards all run This is teeth in the rope, this is hands in the stone This is building a throne out of being alone

I don’t need your permission I don’t need your applause I survived every sentence that was written as law I am more than the damage, more than panic and shame I am not what they did I am what still remains

[Pre-Chorus] Say it with your chest now Say it like a riot If they called you weak Make the whole room silent

[Chorus] You were never broken You were never dead You were forged in the fire With a crown in your head

You were never finished You were never small You were learning how to stand When the world made you crawl

Tell them I’m still breathing Tell them I’m still chosen Tell them I was never broken

[Breakdown] No I was not the wound I was the weapon after

No I was not the fall I was the floor cracking after

No I was not the cage I was the hand on the lock

No I was not the pain I was the scream that would not stop

[Verse 3] Let me go harder

I got holy rage, cold scars, old wars Locked jaws, closed doors, no pause, no more Whole life low blows, still rose, still roars Stone soul, black coat, steel bones, all yours

Try to shame me, name me, cage me, break me Maybe lately pain made fate remake me Face me, hate me, chase me, erase me Still I rise so loud that the dead might wake me

I’m not polished, I’m punished and proud I’m not quiet, I’m thunder allowed I’m not healed like a pretty little quote on a wall I’m healed like a wolf that survived the fall

So let the bass hit Let the floor split Let the choir scream from the pit

If you walked through hell And you still came back Put your fist in the air And remember that

[Final Chorus] You were never broken You were never dead You were forged in the fire With a crown in your head

You were never finished You were never small You were learning how to stand When the world made you crawl

Tell them I’m still breathing Tell them I’m still chosen Tell them I was never broken

[Outro] Not broken Forged

Not broken Chosen

Not broken Built

Never broken Never