Fish Bowl by Kelli Bruno (NPR Tiny Desk Contest 2025)

Lyrics:
I am living in a fish bowl
Spend so much time swimming in circles
But I’m scared of what I’ll find beyond the glass
So I’ll stay here I’m fine
Eyes peering in the fish bowl
Throwing their dimes laughing at the ripples
I know they see me but they don’t seem to care
whether or not I’m free
I’ve been at it so long but
I can’t catch a wave big enough to
Get me to the other side
And now my hope is fading cuz I’ve
I’ve been at it so long
Watered down I’m all wrong
Maybe fine is all I am
And all I’ll ever be
With every passing chance gone,
I’m too ashamed to keep on
All I ever wanted to do was make
Splashes in the world
But I’m just another girl
A shell without a pearl
Time goes by
I am old in the fish bowl
Never stopped swimming in circles
But I made sure that my baby
Learned the lesson I could not
and she’s free