We're Going Back

I am so tired

I’m tired of waking up every morning alone and feeling mad

Tired of fighting insecurity because my deadbeat dad

Left me thinking every guy in my life is standing on a launch pad

Just ready to blow, ready to leave me alone

Ready to keep me waiting by the telephone

I am so tired

Of being a woman, y’all it’s hard

To sit quietly at a bar with blatant disregard

For all the strangers within arm's reach staring down my bra

It’s hard to go out, to dress up

When all you can think about is what might be in your cup

And it’s hard to be upset, without accusation

People saying, “Oh she’s only mad because of menstruation”

I’m tired of walking in an office full of well-paid men

Who, sure, have earned their money and remind us time-and-again

I guess it’s first come, first serve

Instead of get what you deserve

So maybe shutting up is not as hard as competing for their pay

But who knew we’d still be fighting for equality today

I can’t believe it’s twenty eighteen

We’ve made it so far

From shackling my people to just shooting in their cars

From forcing me to stay at home to judging if I choose to

Instead of having a career, “Like all successful women do”

From deciding what is love to letting love just be love

Only to have fifty people dead on the floor of a dance club

I’m so tired of looking forward and thinking, “Wait, we’re going back!”

And having no one there to steer us onto the right track

When all people care about is what to Snapchat

When women describe other women by what they lack

And men are beaten down for just wanting to provide

For little girls who are ashamed to admit they just want to be a bride

When there’s little care for who a person is, just how a person looks

Little care for what’s going on out here, outside of the textbooks

When I can’t have a religion and speak my beliefs

Without asking for permission and being told to, “Keep it brief”

Praying, “God can you save us?” and knowing he can hear me

But having any sort of faith won’t get me taken seriously

I don’t even know if speaking like this is okay

But in this day and age a woman can have a lot to say

And I don’t know if anything is going to change today

I just know it’s hard to get there when you’re going the wrong way.