I Paint Me

[ Lyrics ]

I paint me, not in ivory.

Used to be a silhouette in someone else’s dream,
framed in soft focus, lost in the sheen.
He brushed me with adjectives I never asked to wear—
angel, muse, mystery, like I wasn’t there.
Now the lens is mine, no filters to please,
time stamp on the file: ‘recorded by me.’
No more posing for a truth that ain’t mine,
I’m the author, the subject, the full stop, the line.

No more strokes of his imagination,
this is real skin, not a painted vacation.
I won’t be pinned like a moth in glass,
I’m alive—watch the story amass.

I paint me, not in ivory,
clear-eyed, raw, not a fantasy.
Every scar, every late-night thought,
every silence that I fought.
I paint me—red in my cheeks, gray in my chest,
all of me, not just the best.
 — whisper doubles

Used to edit my voice to match his tune,
swallowed my words like they came too soon.
Now the mic’s on my lips, no translator,
writing verses that pull back the shutter.
No halo, no myth, no tragic glow—
just a girl with a vision and a story to show.
I don’t need to be worshiped, I just need to be seen,
in the light that I set, not the shadows between.

No more chasing that ghost in the frame,
I erase the illusion, I rename the game.
Not a symbol, not a sign—
I’m the hand holding the line.

I paint me, not in ivory,
clear-eyed, raw, not a fantasy.
Every scar, every late-night thought,
every silence that I fought.
I paint me—red in my cheeks, gray in my chest,
all of me, not just the best.

Used to let him hold the brush… now it’s in my grip.
Used to doubt every word… now I own the script.

I’m not the art he displayed—
I’m the artist.

I paint me, not in ivory,
clear-eyed, fierce, and finally free.
Every tear, every truth I denied,
every part that I locked inside.
I paint me—blood in my hands, fire in my throat,
every note, every quote.

I paint me—no permission, no plea,
I’m the vision, I’m the dream.

I paint me…