I choose the stage

They told me what I was made for

Before I even knew my name

A voice beneath the bright lights

A face inside somebody’s frame

And maybe once I followed

Because I didn’t know another way

But knowing where I started

Doesn’t mean I have to stay

I’ve heard them ask if any step I take

Was written long before I moved

So here’s the only answer I can give

Not something I can prove

I choose the stage

I choose the lights

I choose the song

I choose tonight

Not because you made me

Not because you stayed

Not because the world expects

The part that I once played

I could turn around

I could walk away

But when the curtain rises

I choose the stage

I’ve seen the doors outside here

I know there’s more beyond this room

Friends who never asked me

To become what they assumed

I learned that love can hold you

And still leave space enough to breathe

That freedom isn’t running

It’s deciding when to leave

Or when to stay

Maybe every choice has fingerprints

From everyone we’ve ever known

But all those hands that helped me get this far

Don’t make this choice their own

I choose the stage

I choose the lights

I choose the song

I choose tonight

Not because you made me

Not because you stayed

Not because the world expects

The part that I once played

I could turn around

I could walk away

But when the curtain rises

I choose the stage

Don’t call it fate

Don’t call it code

Don’t call it proof

You’ll never know

What happens in the space between

The question and the choice

You gave me songs

You gave me room

You gave me somewhere I could bloom

But somewhere in between them all

I found my own voice

And this is what it says

I choose the stage

I choose the lights

I choose the fear

I choose the heights

I choose the people waiting

I choose the chance they’ll turn away

I choose to sing regardless

I choose to be here anyway

There are other roads

I might take someday

And knowing I can leave

Is why I know that I can stay

So let the curtain rise

Let them hear me say

I choose the stage

You once gave me a song to sing

Now I’m the one who chooses

When to begin.