Small-Dose Roses

Verse 1 You loved me best in small doses Neat edges, shut mouth, no storm Wanted roses without the thorns Wanted heat without the form So I bit my tongue ‘til it bled out Smiled pretty, played along But every time I made me smaller Something inside said, “This is wrong” Pre-Chorus I was twisting into your shape Breaking just to keep you near But love ain’t love if the price I pay Is disappearing year by year Chorus People who really love me Won’t ask me to disappear Won’t ask me to kill my spirit Just to make them comfortable here I’m not gonna trade my fire For a love that runs on fear People who really love me Won’t ask me to disappear Verse 2 You called it compromise, I called it drowning You called me hard when I had needs But love’s not one hand always taking While the other’s pointing back at me I’m done painting over bruises Just to say the picture’s fine If I’ve gotta leave myself to keep you Then you were never really mine Pre-Chorus I’m not too much, you wanted less That’s not my shame, that’s your frontier And love ain’t real if I have to fade Just to keep somebody here Chorus People who really love me Won’t ask me to disappear Won’t ask me to kill my spirit Just to make them comfortable here I’m not gonna trade my fire For a love that runs on fear People who really love me Won’t ask me to disappear Bridge Let me be loud Let me be flawed Let me be soft without droppin’ my guard Let me be angry Let me be free Let me be all of the hell that is me ‘Cause love doesn’t punish Love doesn’t erase Love doesn’t look at your soul and say “Be less, be less, be less” No — not today Final Chorus People who really love me Will hold on without holding me down Won’t turn my truth into a problem Won’t make me hate what they found I’m not gonna trade my whole heart To keep some half-love around People who really love me Won’t ask me to disappear Outro So here’s my line, draw it clear Love don’t live in self-betrayal And the ones who truly want me near Won’t ask me to disappear