[INTRO] (hushed, close-mic) Shh—listen. / You can hear it when the mask slips. (yeah) [VERSE 1] You practice that stare like a lock on a door / Call it “keeping order” when you’re begging for more / You speak in commandments, you pace like a judge / Turning small little cuts into proof of your love / You don’t want respect, you want silence on cue / You don’t want the truth, you want someone to bruise (not me) [PRE-CHORUS] If you need me smaller to feel tall / That’s not control— that’s a panic crawl / If you need my shame to stand up straight / That’s not strength, that’s a cracked backbone in a cape [CHORUS] You call it control— I call it fear dressed up as power / You call it “authority”— I call it fear dressed up as power / Humiliation isn’t safety, it’s a throne made out of coward / Say it with your chest— it’s fear dressed up as power / (Fear dressed up as power) / (Fear dressed up as power) [POST-CHORUS] Fear dressed up as power— (say it) / Fear dressed up as power— (say it) [VERSE 2] You love an audience, you love the easy win / You crown yourself “right” when the room goes thin / In comment-line courtrooms, you swing that rule / Like cruelty’s a credential, like hate is a tool / You confuse domination with being secure / Like hurting someone else makes your hands feel sure (it won’t) [PRE-CHORUS] If you need me smaller to feel tall / That’s not control— that’s a panic crawl / If you need my silence to call it “peace” / That’s not calm, that’s a hostage deal in the key of “me” [CHORUS] You call it control— I call it fear dressed up as power / You call it “authority”— I call it fear dressed up as power / Humiliation isn’t safety, it’s a throne made out of coward / Say it with your chest— it’s fear dressed up as power / (Fear dressed up as power) / (Fear dressed up as power) [BRIDGE] (stop-time hits) Real strength doesn’t need a witness / Real strength doesn’t need a target / It doesn’t barter love for submission / It doesn’t confuse a bruise with a badge / (build) So keep your crown, keep your rules, keep your show / We see the tremble underneath what you pose [FINAL CHORUS] You call it control— I call it fear dressed up as power / You call it “authority”— I call it fear dressed up as power / Dominance isn’t safety when it feeds on the wounded / Cruelty isn’t confidence, it’s a siren for the ruined / Take off the costume— let the truth get louder / Say it with your chest— it’s fear dressed up as power / (Fear dressed up as power) / (Fear dressed up as power) [OUTRO] (quiet, then hard cut) Not confidence— not control— / Fear dressed up as power.
