Upbeat and Beat Up E
You Are Correct
Middle-School Bullying · Neurodivergent Isolation and Masking · Defiant Indie Rock
#VERSE
I’m upbeat and beat up
It’s always been that way
“Hey, ya little fuck-man
You’re dumb and you’re gay”
Agony from middle schoolers
Long ago—what they’d say
Bullying ignored
Often still is today
#PRE-CHORUS
But Dad told me
I was better than them
“Keep the light in your eyes
And watch them go dim”
#CHORUS
Upbeat and beat up
A tasty combination
Smiling when they punch
Assholes of denigration
They’ll knock the milk off your lunch tray
Just get another cup
Live to outwit them another day
Upbeat and beat up
#VERSE
Hip-checked into lockers
With a thud and a laugh
“You’d better keep smiling, Smiley
Or we’ll give your head a toilet bath”
They could sense that I was slow
At coming up with a retort
The answer came in my twenties
Neurodivergent, no support
#PRE-CHORUS
But Dad told me
“You’re my precious only son
Always live proud and smiling
Watch them fail, bottom-rung”
#CHORUS
Upbeat and beat up
Clashing colors of truth
Bullies on the savanna
Purge the herd of weak youth
They flank you in silence
Then pounce so abrupt
Always ends in dichotomy
Upbeat and beat up
#BRIDGE
They had fur on their lips
I had no fur down there
Locker room, seventh grade
Stripped till my skin was bare
The pointing, the chanting
Cowering deep in shock
Fueled their egos by laughing
At the smiling kid’s cock
#INSTRUMENTAL
#VERSE
Mom and Dad prayed to heaven
It did no damn good
The tormenting unfettered
Will never be cured
My smile is my mask
That I cannot remove
While I struggle to stay even
Those boys seem to improve
#CHORUS
Upbeat and beat up
I hide all the hurt
My body matured
But I still feel like dirt
Cheered on by my parents
I did not self-destruct
But I wander two paths
Upbeat and beat up
#OUTRO
Upbeat and beat up
That’s how I’ve survived
Sleepless nights, I still wonder
Was Dad really right?
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