I Am Not The Street I Came From (feat. Lena Dungan)

Standing in front of a mirror Standing in a group of friends feeling alone Looking at what you want to be and where you are I am reflective Stirring the pot of simple potato soup Close to boiling over with thoughts Is what they said true You are untalented You are unqualified You can't do it Are these the statements that I have been told by peers, parents, and teachers Or the lies I've told myself When placed in my own thoughts When placed in front of those around me Feeling withdrawn Feeling inferior Were the lies of my own origin or another outside force Because the world The world judges Remembering what I've done Remembering where I've come from Dim lights illuminating dark streets Stoplights on a quiet square Trying to run away by my own two feet If this small town taught me one thing It's that I have to grow to go anywhere Once again I come back to my kitchen Spilling over with the messes and memories Taking me away to a distant time Spices and scents transport me out of my kitchen To days driving two lane streets to a school never big enough Routinely pulling into the same parking spot as the day before To the days resting my head on my desk Blaring music drowning out the darkness hangover In a class of 30 people But never feeling so alone Is what my brain says true You don't have enough talent to make it Why isn't your name on the list You will never measure up I never turned the volume up but these voices weren't something I could put up But who defines talent Who decides you aren't enough Where do you get your identity If I got it from the place I grew up If I got it from the so called friends surrounding me If I got it from the unrealistic magazines If I got it from the lies they told me I would crumble I would crash to the ground Because in their books, I will never be enough Hit higher notes Run a little faster Maybe lose a little weight What they told you What the texted you, more like What you read What you thought No longer Even when the darkness that is my own thoughts comes spilling over my mind Even when friends lie And teachers cry I will not crumble I am not another step for someone to walk up I will not stay stuck No matter where I was planted It doesn't matter where you call home The 903 Dallas A town of 30 people It will never define where you grow