Afterthought. Mm, who'da thought. This is confessional neo-soul at its most intimate, lush electric piano and glassy pads glowing under soft trap drums while a spoken-word verse traces the wound all the way back: a little girl in the back of the room waiting to be noticed, always the maybe, never the must, shrinking herself to a manageable size and learning to read the leave in somebody's eyes. She chose them like the wound told her to, picked the unavailable, called the ache something true, begging for a crumb at a table fully spread and calling it devotion while she starved. The backup, the in-case, the meanwhile. But something finally cracked and the light got in slow, she stopped asking to be loved and started to grow. The vocoder-warmed hook flips the title on its maker: now YOU'RE the afterthought, a person I damn near forgot, all these years later, who'da thought. The bridge is the healing itself, work done in the dark where nobody clapped, every piece of the little girl picked up and put back, love given to herself first. You were never the villain, just a mirror she outgrew. And the pain? It's an afterthought too. Written by Pamela Arsena. Pamela Lyra on the Pamela Arsena label.
Afterthought... Mm... who'da thought... Started young, in the back of the room Little girl waitin' for somebody to notice the bloom Always the maybe, never the must Learnin' early that love was a thing you don't trust So I shrunk myself down to a manageable size Got real good at readin' the leave in somebody's eyes Thought if I asked for less I would finally get picked But the less that I asked, the more I got tricked That's the programmin', wrote before I could read it A wound talkin' loud and I followed where it led me Afterthought, Someone you loved for a little bit but all too soon forgot It isn't what it isn't, tired of pretendin' it's somethin' it's not Now you're the afterthought, a person I damn near forgot All these years later, who'da thought So I chose 'em like the wound told me to Pick the unavailable, call the ache somethin' true Beggin' for a crumb at a table fully spread Callin' it devotion while I starved myself instead I was always the backup, the in-case, the meanwhile The one that you'd remember every once in a while And I wore it like a name 'cause it's all that I knew The afterthought girl in a hand-me-down view But somethin' finally cracked and the light got in slow I stopped askin' you to love me and I started to grow Afterthought, Someone you loved for a little bit but all too soon forgot It isn't what it isn't, tired of pretendin' it's somethin' it's not Now you're the afterthought, a person I damn near forgot All these years later, who'da thought I did the work in the dark where nobody clapped Picked up every piece of the little girl, put her back Now the love that I give, I give to me first And the past is just a ghost that I already rehearsed You were never the villain, just a mirror I outgrew And the pain, oh, the pain, it's an afterthought too Afterthought, You were someone I loved but I finally let it rot It isn't what it isn't, and I'm done pretendin' it's not Now you're the afterthought, yeah, the lesson that I got All this healin' later, who'da thought Mm... who'da thought...
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