[Verse 1] I sketched the face they said I ought to wear Measured every angle, held my breath Then scraped away the crooked little grin And brushed a blankness over what was left [Pre-Chorus] Five notes circling the page A staircase cut from dusk I chased the cleanest outline Till the colors turned to dust [Chorus] I paint myself, erase myself Till no one knows the name The truest lines were trembling there Before I hid the flame I paint myself, erase myself A careful, empty frame [Verse 2] I took the ink-stained thumb, the crooked ear The laugh that never landed on the beat I covered every mark that made me mine And called the pale result complete [Bridge] Leave one rough edge Leave one wrong shade The hand that shook Was the hand that made [Breakdown] Five notes, one breath A smudge I won't correct Five notes, one breath A face I can accept [Final Chorus] I paint myself, but keep the marks That never fit the frame The truest lines were trembling there I won't erase their name I paint myself, I let it show A living, unfinished face [Outro] A living, unfinished face
