[Intro - a child's music box plays badly broken] Dear Dad... [Silence] Remember me? [One ugly piano chord] I was three. [Verse 1 - cold, rhythmic accusation] You said you loved me, Then you sold me for a dollar. Said you'd always hear me, Never heard me when I'd holler. Said you'd be right back, Shed a tear and disappeared. Left a little girl believing You were coming back for years. Then you blamed my mother, Then you turned and blamed me too. Said your daughter had abandoned you......... [Music stops] When I was THREE? How the FUCK does that happen? Tell me what a toddler knew About the stories you were writing To excuse the things you'd do. [Verse 2 - rapid, jagged rap] You never wanted to know me, Had the story written solely, Rewrote history slowly, Made yourself the injured holy. Must be lonely Playing victim in a room Full of mirrors showing faces You refuse to recognize as you. You had decades to come find me, Decades to ask my name, Decades to tell the truth Instead of passing out the blame. And all those years of running, All those stories you rehearsed, Did they make you feel important While your child believed she was cursed? [Pre-Chorus - instruments arguing] Tell me who abandoned who. Tell me what a child could do. Tell me how you sleep at night With all those things you call untrue. [Chorus - furious, irregular rhythm] DEAR DAD! DO YOU SEE ME NOW? Did you hear me then? Do you hear me now? You don't get to sell the story, Keep the money, wear the crown! You don't get to break a child Then blame her for falling down! DEAR DAD! DO YOU SEE ME NOW? I was THREE! I WAS THREE! And somehow You made the villain Out of me! [Verse 3 - lower, more menacing] I hope you see me in the mirror. Hope you hear me in your dreams. Hope you meet the little girl You left behind inside her screams. I hope you think about the silence, About the years you never came. How convenient to forget her While remembering who to blame. Tell me, was it worth the titles? Were promotions worth the price? Were the stories worth repeating When you knew they weren't quite right? You held the strings. You named the roles. You wrote the script. You closed the doors. You called it love. You called it fate. You called me wrong. You called me late. [Sharp silence] I was a CHILD. You were the one Who had the choice. [Bridge - broken nursery rhyme, music box slowing] [Childlike voice] Daddy said he'd be right back. Daddy said he loved me. Daddy said... [Music box stops] [Adult woman, spoken] Did you ever wonder What happened to the little girl? Did you ever wonder What she dreamed of becoming? Did you ever ask What she loved? What made her laugh? What frightened her? What she survived? [Long silence] Or was it easier Not to know? [Verse 4 - explosive, rhythm almost collapses] You say they lied. You say they left. You say you're innocent of theft. But what about the years you took? The empty chair? The second look? The birthday candles never seen? The little girl who might have been? The love you promised, Then withdrew? The childhood she survived Without you? Don't tell me I should thank you. Don't tell me to forgive. Don't tell me what a daughter owes The man who chose not to give. I owe you no performance. No reunion. No applause. And I don't have to make you comfortable While naming what it cost. [Final Chorus - ferocious, distorted percussion] DEAR DAD! DO YOU SEE ME NOW? You can bury all the memories, But you can't rewrite them out! You can smile for every camera, Tell the world you did your best, But there's a child in every silence And a question in my chest! DEAR DAD! DO YOU SEE ME NOW? I was THREE! I WAS THREE! You made a life without your daughter. Then blamed your daughter For the life you chose to lead! [Outro - furious voice suddenly turns quiet] Where were you.....................................was it worth it? I hope one day You see the child. Not the accusation. Not the inconvenience. Not the story you invented. The child. [One piano key, struck too hard] You wanted me to disappear. [Pause] Well... Look at me. [Music box resumes, wildly out of tune] I'm still here. [Silence]
