[Verse 1]
Long before the painters named the autumn on the trees
Long before the sunrise had a word for what it breathed
There was a fruit on a branch in a faraway land
Round and bright and glowing and it didn't understand

[Pre-Chorus]
Was I the name or was I the thing?
Did I teach the light what color to bring?
Nobody knew what to call what they saw
Till they bit into me and then they knew

[Chorus]
I am the orange that named the color orange
I was here before the word, I was here before the thought
The color had no title, had no claim, had no crown
Till a fruit rolled off a branch and the whole world wrote it down
I came first
I came first

[Verse 2]
Carried along the spice road on a slow and ancient cart
Peel like a lantern, flesh like a tart
They held me up to the sun and they searched for a name
And the only word that fit me was already mine to claim

[Pre-Chorus]
Was I the name or was I the thing?
Did I teach the light what color to bring?
Nobody knew what to call what they saw
Till they bit into me and then they knew

[Chorus]
I am the orange that named the color orange
I was here before the word, I was here before the thought
The color had no title, had no claim, had no crown
Till a fruit rolled off a branch and the whole world wrote it down
I came first
I came first

[Bridge]
Sunsets borrowed my glow
Marigolds owe me their name
Tigers wear my coat now
But I was the one who came
I was the one who came

[Chorus]
I am the orange that named the color orange
I was here before the word, I was here before the thought
The color had no title, had no claim, had no crown
Till a fruit rolled off a branch and the whole world wrote it down
I came first
I came first

[Outro]
Peel me slow, taste the answer
The fruit always knew
The color just caught up
Yeah, the fruit always knew...