[Intro - clean arpeggios, close vocal]

[Verse 1 - the product name]
The first name came off a shelf
A checkout-line disguise
It had a price and a wardrobe
And professional eyes
It wasn't short for anything
It wasn't long for anything at all
It was exactly the size of what it sold
And nothing else, that's all

[Verse 2 - piano joins, the drawer name]
The second name I hid away
A girl inside a drawer
From a town I never talk about
Behind a bolted door
Then a gentle man stood by a river
Said it like a song
Said hi Josie, I like that so much better
And a dead nerve hummed along

[Chorus - soaring, first size]
Say my name
Say it like it's good to be
Say my name
Every syllable set free
I answered to a price tag
I answered to a shame
Now heaven and a kitchen
Know my name

[Verse 3 - bass and drums, the given name]
He stood me in his mother's kitchen
Shoulders squared to say it right
Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet
Mrs. Nathan Wright
And my knees went out from under me
For a coat laid on my frame
A whole family stitched inside
Eight letters of a name

[Chorus - bigger]
Say my name
Say it slow and say it proud
Say my name
The one he laid across my shoulders
Say it out loud
I was inventory
I was nobody's claim
Now a mother rings it like a bell
My name, my name

[Bridge - music-box figure, quiet]
And they tell me it's not even
My last name at the end
There's one more waiting on a white stone
Past the seam, around the bend
I'm in no hurry, no hurry at all
The one I have is new
But somebody already knows it
And He's saving it
He's saving it

[Full stop - held breath]

[Final Chorus - wall of sound, joy breaking]
Say my name
Under oak trees, over lemonade
Say my name
Watch the bought girl stand there unafraid
First and last, in public
Legal, permanent, no shame
The girl who had no whole name
Got a forever name
Say my name
Say my name

[Outro - band cuts, one voice, plain]
Josie Wright.
Say it out loud sometime.
You'll hear what I heard.