Valid | Original Lyrics by Cassandra James (@jaedeura)

LYRICS

[Intro]

mmm‑mm… ah‑ah…
mmm‑mm… ah-ah...

[Verse 1]

I grew up learning pain needs proof…
like you need red on your skin
before anyone believes you’re breaking.
They say hurt must shine under harsh light,
must tear, must bruise, must spill…
before they whisper, “you don’t deserve this.”

But what about the wounds that never bleed outward?
the ones that sit behind the ribs
and choke you from the inside out?
the kind that no one notices
because you learned to cry without a sound?
(leave… leave… leave…)

And I know now—
forgiving isn’t walking back into the fire.
Forgiving is a quiet release inside,
and sometimes the brave thing
is leaving what keeps killing you softly.

---

[Pre‑Chorus]

Why do they ask strength only
from the ones who die quietly?
Why do they say my ache is small
just because it doesn’t bleed?
If forgiveness lives in me…
doesn’t that mean I’m free
to go?
(go… go…)


---

[Chorus]

If the bruises were visible,
they’d never tell me to stay.
If the scars were loud enough,
they’d never preach, “endure… endure…”

If they saw how a decade
can hollow out your heartbeat—
they’d call it survival,
they’d whisper run.

But because my wounds
don’t stain the floor…
they say I’m dramatic,
they say “it’s not that bad…”

We can forgive…
but forgiveness doesn’t mean
returning to the room that broke you.
We can let go of the hate…
and still choose life.
(leave… leave… leave…)

---

[Verse 2]

Maybe that’s why I learned to turn pain inward—
folding it tight like paper
until the cut is invisible.
Maybe that’s why reflection
feels like checking if I’m still here
when no one else sees the storm.

And I hate that I ever believed
hurt must be visible to matter.
Some hearts die quietly
under footsteps that forget your worth,
under love that erases your name
while still calling you “home.”

But I’ve learned…
forgiveness can live in me,
but my feet belong on solid ground,
not in the rubble of what nearly killed me.

---

[Pre‑Chorus]

Why is walking away weakness
only when the damage is emotional?
Why must I explain my escape
just because my skin stayed unbroken?
Forgiveness frees the heart…
but the heart deserves
its own path.
(path… path…)

---

[Chorus]

If the bruises were visible,
they’d never ask me to try again.
If my pain had color,
they’d whisper, “you deserve safety…”
not “be patient… be kinder… pray more…”

If they saw the weight
of quiet disrespect,
of slow decay,
of being stepped on softly—
they’d know why I left.
Pain doesn’t need blood
to kill you slowly.

We can forgive…
but forgiveness is not returning.
Healing does not require staying.
We’re allowed to walk away.
(ourselves… ourselves…)

---

[Bridge]

One woman was hit, bruised, broken by another’s hands,
her pain loud enough for anyone to see.
Another was shattered by whispers,
words that twisted and cut her mind,
leaving marks no camera could capture.

One walked home soaked in blood…
the other walked through shadows soaked in doubt,
in silence, in exhaustion, in fear no one asked about.

One lost her breath under someone else’s grip,
the other lost her breath under memories that squeezed just as tight.

And at the end of the day—
the ending is the same.
Whether death comes by another’s hand,
or by the slow, quiet decay of being unseen…
it can still take you.
(break… fade… fall…)


---

[Final Chorus]

If the bruises were visible,
they would’ve never asked me to stay.
But I’m done waiting for witnesses,
done shrinking myself to fit a story that wasn’t mine.

I choose to live, to walk out of the rooms that broke me,
even if no one sees the storms I survived,
even if the scars are invisible to everyone else.

Pain is pain.
Leaving is not weakness.
Forgiveness can live inside me,
but my life… my life belongs to me,
and I will rise, I will breathe, I will not stay
where they once tried to break me.
(leave… live… leave… live…)


---

[Outro]

mmm‑mm… mm‑mm…
ahh…
Forgive… yes…
but don’t stay
where they broke you.

(never stay… never stay…)