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Labels
A lump of labels on his arm reveals his story--about the labels you’re given, the ones you earn, and the ones you choose to wear.
What starts as a curious question turns into a story about identity, resilience, and second chances.
LabelsJim Molinelli
00:00 / 04:04
Lyrics
LABELS
© Jim Molinelli
VERSE 1
I glanced to the right, and saw the damnedest thing.
While he drew his fingers through the beer-sweat ring,
His shirt sleeve bulged, concealing a very large hump.
Yet the old guy sipped his beer, oblivious to the lump.
I said “excuse me Sir, but what’s that on your arm?”
He winked, and raised his sleeve. "It's the best part of my charm!"
I saw a mountain of stickers, half an inch of shame and pride.
A lifetime’s worth of labels, that were glued down to his hide.
CHORUS
Funny just how tight an unfair label sticks,
Even when you know that it doesn’t really fit.
Some labels build you up, others make you swear…
The ones that matter are the ones you choose to wear.
VERSE 2
“Son, the bottom ones are oldest, written by other hands,
Troublemaker, good-for-nothin'... labels I couldn't stand.
Hear that crap enough, a boy believes he's second rate.
As they piled up I worried, they’d cement my fate.
I tried to overwrite or peel off every sorry one.
It just left a sticky mess, when they wouldn't come undone.
When the Army called me “trustworthy”, a label I had earned,
I knew that very day that a brand new page had turned.
CHORUS
Funny just how tight an unfair label sticks,
Even when you know that it doesn’t really fit.
Some labels build you up, others make you swear…
The ones that matter are the ones you choose to wear.
VERSE 3
“See, the Army didn’t care about the stickers at the bottom,
Just the man who did his job, so the old ones got forgotten.
Then I picked out better labels like ‘Loyal’, ‘Brave’, ‘Unbent’.
Until I reached this top one… the one I chose... ’Content’.”
He laughed as he tapped the lump, then he said “my friend…
It took me sixty years to like the way my story ends.”
He gave my shoulder one good squeeze, smiled, and turned away
Took one more sip of beer, and he let the silence lay.
CHORUS
It's funny just how tight an unfair label sticks,
Even when you know that it doesn’t really fit.
Some labels build you up, others make you swear…
Funny how the ones that matter, are the ones you choose to wear.
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