I’m here to tell you a story about a woman who hated herself
Not because she was poor or ugly
Not because she was orphaned or homeless
But she just did

And I’m here to tell you a story about a man who hated his life
He dreaded every moment of it
Woke up each day to the burdens of this world
Dwelling heavily on his thin shoulders

They had it all
Cars, money, mansions, you name it
They done it all before
Drugs, alcohol, ecstasy, mountain climbing, sky diving

But their souls were sad
The whole in their hearts kept widening
Tears kept falling from their eyes when they were alone
They were the real definition of miserable

Every step of their lives were monitored by society
They had to follow the approval matrix
Conform to society’s rules and regulations

The flying tie was suffocating him
Those high heels were killing her feet
The heat in the suit
The tightness of the corset
Just to achieve that approved physical appearance of a lady

She starves
Yet each night she empties her plate into the bin
because she knows even if her body doesn’t reject it
She will empty it out into the bathroom sink herself
Anorexia
Conformity

He drowns himself in alcohol in the night
Because the sleeping pills don’t help
He knows he canott have his own dream in his own sleep
but daddy’s dreams

Every step of their life was determined right from birth
Usually expected to go a good school, get a good job
Settle down and have kids
She had to marry into money
He had to marry into power and position
There was no love, no love, no love, but duty

And they listened to the voices
They told them that there was no need
to bring the family name to shame
No daughter of mine will marry a comedian
No son of mine will marry a dancer

They had to give up on their dreams
But all she wanted to do was to soil her hands with paint
And paint a new world where she would be free to fly
And all he wanted to do was to write sweet sweet poetry
He wanted to tell the tale of the African woman
About her beauty, about her strength and her struggles

But the painter inside her was suppressed
And the writer inside him was suppressed
Suppressed because mummy says to be a doctor
and daddy says to be an engineer

Suppressed until their true self disappeared
They became only strange soulless beings
Wandering the earth in color
Counting the days to their welcomed end

You see the reward for conformity
is that everyone will like you except yourself
So live for you
And live for your dreams

Don’t give up on your passion
because you have to please society or anyone else
Just go for it
Because you are exceedingly, powerful

***

 
Link to the Italian translation