[Intro - Female]
He goes first
He goes first in love
He goes first in dying
And that is why I can answer

[Verse 1 - Female]
I was told the verse was a chain
A word the men used to silence what I knew
I was told to bow lower when the bowing already broke me
I was told to call my humiliation holy

I watched them preach it for an hour
And refuse the heavier word four lines down
I learned what the verse costs
When the man receiving it has not bled for you

[Pre-Chorus - Female]
But you do not say it to me
You do not have to say it to me
You go first
And I find I want to follow

[Chorus - Female]
I want to
I want to
This is not coerced, this is not extracted
This is freely as the gospel
Because you go first in love
I receive and I offer
Because you bled before you asked
The yes is mine to give
And I give it
Joyfully

[Verse 2 - Female]
You die before you lead
You serve before you stand
You listen when I speak
You honor what I am

You bear the heavier weight
And never make me carry it
You take the harder vow
And never quote it at me

[Pre-Chorus - Female]
And what I offer back
Is not what they demanded
It is what your dying made beautiful to give
It is the yes that was never theirs to ask for

[Chorus - Female]
I want to
I want to
This is not coerced, this is not extracted
This is freely as the gospel
Because you go first in love
I receive and I offer
Because you bled before you asked
The yes is mine to give
And I give it
Joyfully

[Bridge - Female]
The cross is the standard
The covenant is the floor
You render Christ to me
And I render the bride to you
This is what Paul actually wrote
Beneath the centuries of misuse
A tender marriage rendering the gospel
At the level of one woman's yes

[Final Chorus - Female with layered female harmonies]
I want to
I want to
This is not coerced, this is not extracted
This is freely as the gospel
Because you go first in love
I receive and I offer
Because you bled before you asked
The yes is mine to give
And I give it
Joyfully

[Outro - Female]
He goes first
He goes first
And I follow
Freely
He goes first
And my yes
Is mine to give
And I give it
Joyfully