Song: Doesn't Mean

Music by: Ríomas


Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start of teaching: 00:03:20

Start of reprise: 00:18:24



Lyrics:


Pt. 1

What if it doesn’t mean what you think it means?

What if it doesn’t mean what you think it means?

What if it doesn’t mean what you think it means?

Doesn’t mean what you think it means

Doesn’t mean what you think it means


Pt. 2

It’s just a hole in the soul

Trying to bring you back down in the darkness

This is not a darkness you need to go

This is not a darkness you need to go


Been there, done that,

no need to go back

This is not a darkness

you need to go

This is not a darkness you need


Pt. 3

Bringing yourself down

Is not your protection anymore

The story is much more

Than your mind could ever hold


Image description

Notes: What if there are other stories we can tell ourselves, other ways to protect ourselves? What if it doesn't mean what we think it means? The kind of flexibility that asks of us -- the openness to consider that the solution our mind is so neatly presenting might actually not be the most accurate or the most helpful? Wow. It's a game changer when we don't have to hold our stories or our past techniques so tightly -- and Ríomas has given us a song to ask these questions, to remind us that old ways of coping aren't always working so well in the here and now. Next episode, we get a sweet, intense conversation that touches in on navigating change, ancestors, rhythms, and more -- PLUS a new song Ríomas shares that's all about changing patterns...

 

Songwriter Info: Ríomas (RiYo or Río for short, they/them), previously known as Shireen Amini, is a queer, trans masculine, Puerto Rican-Iranian artist and immigrant settler based in Portland, Oregon creating at the intersection of music, healing, and cultural change. Drawing upon pop and folk soul textures, gratefully and respectfully from Black and Afro-Latin lineages, they craft artful, participatory songs that invite realness and transformative energy. Bridging contemporary music mediums with ceremonial ways and resistance efforts, Ríomas creates soulful and joyful community singing experiences that reconnect people to their power and place. In spring 2026, they released their first community song album, Gather Your Resilience: Medicine for Liberation.

 

Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition contexts like song circles, but please contact me for permission and rates if interested in teaching this song as part of greater money-making ventures like multi-week choirs, workshops, classes, or performances or if interested in recording this song.

 

 

Links: 

Album on Bandcamp: https://riomas.bandcamp.com/album/gather-your-resilience-medicine-for-liberation

Patreon: https://patreon.com/riomas

Instagram: @riomasmusic

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/riomas

 

 

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3 layer with extra harmonies

 

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