[Intro - Dusty keys, distant percussion] I have this joke I've been telling for years It's really funny Apparently [Verse 1] I tell people I'm difficult Before they get the chance Say I'm terrible at staying Then ask somebody to dance I say don't get attached to me With a very charming smile And if somebody looks concerned I laugh a little while It's a pretty good routine I've got the timing down Everybody thinks I'm joking So nobody sticks around [Pre-Chorus] And I can hear myself rehearsing Every time I start to care Put a punchline where the truth is Hope nobody notices it's there [Chorus] It's not a bit It never was I just made it sound ridiculous So nobody would ask because If I said it with a straight face You might've taken it seriously And I wasn't ready for somebody To believe me It's not a bit It's just me [Verse 2] I say I'm fine with being lonely Like it's some expensive taste Say I love my independence While I'm saving you a place I make jokes about abandonment Then change the subject fast And call it dark humor When somebody mentions my past I used to think that knowing Why I do the things I do Meant I'd somehow fixed them Which is funny Wouldn't you? [Pre-Chorus] There's a second after laughter When the room gets very still And I rush to fill the silence Like I always, always will [Chorus] It's not a bit It never was I just made it sound ridiculous So nobody would ask because If I said it with a straight face You might've taken it seriously And I wasn't ready for somebody To believe me It's not a bit It's just me [Bridge - Bare piano, close vocal] Someone said "You know you don't have to make that funny" And I laughed Obviously Then they didn't laugh back And for a second I had absolutely nothing No clever little sentence No exit through a joke Just the thing I'd been saying Every time I spoke [Final Chorus - Restrained, swelling] It's not a bit It never was I kept dressing up the truth Till I forgot what the costume was And if I say it with a straight face Will you let the silence be? I don't need you to fix it Just don't laugh before me It's not a bit It's just me [Outro - Fading keys] I was going to make a joke About all of this I've got a good one, actually ... Maybe next time
