Lyrics

They called me darling, called me dear
Called me capable, called me clear
Filed me under dutiful and kind
Every label fit so perfectly
I wore them all obediently
Until I felt the edges on my mind

The mirror had a title card
The resume a coat of arms
I polished every surface they could see
But underneath the certificates
Below the smile that always fits
There is a creature with no history

What if I was never who they said?
What if the real me has no name instead?

I'm going to unlearn my name
Strip the wallpaper off the frame
I'm not the trophy on the shelf
I'm the room behind the room behind myself
I'm going to unlearn my name
Nothing borrowed, nothing claimed
Just the bare, electric hum
Of whatever I was before I became someone

My mother's expectations wore my face
My lover's need became my shape
I was fluent in the language of their want
But there's a dialect below the noise
Without a grammar, without poise
A tongue that only solitude can flaunt

What if forgetting is the holiest art?
What if the nameless thing is where we start?

I'm going to unlearn my name
Strip the wallpaper off the frame
I'm not the trophy on the shelf
I'm the room behind the room behind myself
I'm going to unlearn my name
Nothing borrowed, nothing claimed
Just the bare, electric hum
Of whatever I was before I became someone

I am not my job, I am not my grief
I am not the story or the belief
I am not the wound, I am not the scar
I am the darkness between the stars
And the darkness is not empty -
Oh, the darkness is alive

Unlearn... unlearn...
Meet me where the naming ends
That's where everything begins