Pretty and Quiet
Track 4 of Midnight Confessions
[ Lyrics ]
They liked me better when I didn’t speak. Yeah, I was good… too good. Sat through the comment that slithered like smoke, bit my tongue so hard I could taste the broke. Smiled through the pitch where they called me ‘sweet’ while stealing my hook and calling it ‘team.’ I nodded in corners, stayed small, stayed neat, let ‘graceful’ mean silence when I needed to breathe. My voice? A problem. My pain? A phase. I learned to apologize for my own damn face. Now I feel it rise — low like thunder in velvet gloves, no more swallowing words like they’re medicine or drugs. I was praised for the quiet, but punished for the sound — well, the quiet girl’s speaking… and she’s unbound. They liked me better pretty and quiet, dressed in compliance, never starting fights. But the peace was pretend and the smile had a cost — I sold my truth just to be well-loved. I was good… Too good… But good don’t mean I understood. Back then, my power had a softer name: ‘professional,’ ‘easy,’ never ‘the same’ as the boys who’d rage and still land the deal. I watched my worth shrink to how I’d conceal. Took the high road like it was my home, but the high road’s lonely when you walk it alone. Now I write songs like receipts in the light — line by line, bringing due dates to right. No more gold stars for absorbing the heat. No more ‘bless your heart’ in a boardroom meeting. I was good at the game, but the game wasn’t fair — well, the quiet girl’s done playing there. They liked me better pretty and quiet, dressed in compliance, never starting fights. But the peace was pretend and the smile had a cost — I sold my truth just to be well-loved. I was good… Too good… But good don’t mean I understood. Mama said, ‘Speak up, they’ll respect you.’ I said, ‘No, they’ll like me — and that’s not the truth.’ Now the fear’s not in anger, it’s in being seen: me — not the mask, not the past, not the dream. They liked me better pretty and quiet, but I’m tired of trading my voice for a like. The peace was pretend and the cost was my name — I won’t be erased just to play the nice game. I was good… Too good… But now I know what I’m worth — and it’s more I was good… Too good… But I’m not keeping score anymore. No… I’m not quiet. Pretty… and finally loud.