The Man in My Skin

The Man in My Skin

[Rock Intro

Guitars kick in like a screen door in a hurricane

Kick drum like a heartbeat done negotiating]

V1

I tried on other people like thrift-store coats

Wore their opinions, swallowed their quotes

Said “tell me who I am” like it was a job

They smiled real kind, charged my soul to the card

V2

I dated a preacher and a barroom saint

Bought self-help books I never thanked

I chased a shortcut down a neon street

Still woke up with my fear in the passenger seat

Pre1

How do you find yourself in somebody’s eyes

When you flinch every time the truth tries

Chorus

I was searching for answers in somebody else

Turns out every truth was already inside myself

I was just too damn scared of the man in my skin

When I finally faced him, that’s when freedom walked in

V3

I learned to laugh when I wanted to cry

Got real good at “fine”, made it sound like a lie

I kept my heart in a locked back room

Like love was a fire and I was the fuse

V4

I played tough, played cool, played hard to read

Like distance was some form of dignity

But loneliness has a way of calling your bluff

It sits down beside you and says “enjoy your stuff”

V5

I blamed my mama, blamed my town, blamed time

Blamed bad luck and a bloodline rhyme

Then I caught my own face in the sink-side light

Looked just like me, only scared to fight

Pre2

If you keep your shadow on a shorter leash

Does it stop being a monster or learn to speak

Chorus

I was searching for answers in somebody else

Turns out every truth was already inside myself

I was just too damn scared of the man in my skin

When I finally faced him, that’s when freedom walked in

V6

I went to war with the parts I could not tame

Tried sanding them down, tried changing their names

But you cannot drown a truth, it floats

It comes back up in your Sunday clothes

V7

I made a shrine out of being needed

Stayed in the mess where I felt completed

Funny thing when you are everybody’s cure

You forget what you were born for

V8

One quiet night with the TV low

I heard my own heartbeat say hello

No thunder, no angels, no Hollywood spin

Just me and the man I kept locking in

Pre3

What if your fear is a messed-up friend

Trying to warn you where the lies will end

Chorus

I was searching for answers in somebody else

Turns out every truth was already inside myself

I was just too damn scared of the man in my skin

When I finally faced him, that’s when freedom walked in

V9

So I wrote down the things I would not admit

The petty, the tender, the mess of it

I said “I get jealous”, I said “I get small”

Nothing struck me dead. Nothing at all

V10

I took off the grin like a cheap disguise

Let my real face tell the whole damn size

And I forgave the kid who learned to pretend

Because that kid was just trying to get to then

Pre4

If the truth feels like fire in your chest

Is it here to burn you or clear the mess

Chorus

I was searching for answers in somebody else

Turns out every truth was already inside myself

I was just too damn scared of the man in my skin

When I finally faced him, that’s when freedom walked in

V11

Now I do not beg love to make me whole

I bring my whole mess, I bring my whole soul

If you want the real thing, I am what you get

No refunds, no edits, no fake respect

V12

I still get scared, I just do not obey

I let it talk, then I go anyway

Because courage is not some holy win

It is Tuesday at two with the man in your skin

Pre5

When the old you knocks like an old bad habit

Will you open up shaking or laugh and outlast it

Chorus

I was searching for answers in somebody else

Turns out every truth was already inside myself

I was just too damn scared of the man in my skin

When I finally faced him, that’s when freedom walked in

V13

Now I walk out lighter, not bulletproof

I do not need a crowd to call it truth

I do not chase chains that shine like gold

I choose me even when my hands shake cold

Bridge

I used to think freedom meant no fear at all

Like a clean escape, like a curtain call

Now I know it is choosing with sweat on my neck

Telling the mirror “yeah, I am up next”

Letting my flaws sit down at my table

Not as the boss, just something I cradle

I am not a stranger I have to outrun

I am the place I come from

Chorus. Extended

I was searching for answers in somebody else

Turns out every truth was already inside myself

I was just too damn scared of the man in my skin

When I finally faced him, that’s when freedom walked in

Can you feel it too when your real self walks in

V11

Now I do not beg love to make me whole

I bring my whole mess, I bring my whole soul

If you want the real thing, I am what you get

No refunds, no edits, no fake respect

Outro

So if you see me flying, it is not luck, it is proof

I stopped renting my worth, I reclaimed the roof

Freedom did not save me. I let myself in

Me and the man in my skin, finally friends