[Intro, soft, amused, intimate] They dressed me up in velvet black, Put silver on my throat, Taught me how to smile just right, And never how to choke. [Verse 1, smooth, playful, decadent] Fourth daughter, sixth in line, A little jewel they’ll someday sign, A polished name, a painted face, A lovely ghost in borrowed lace. Blue blood, black curls, cold family gold, A future bought and neatly told, But I was never made to wait, Like locked-up wine on a silver plate. [Pre-Chorus, rising, sly] So pour the red, And dim the room, I’d rather flirt with silk and ruin Than die of perfume. [Chorus, big, catchy, glamorous] Spend me young, spend me bright, Burn my name into the night, Let me laugh where good girls don’t, Let me dance where angels won’t. If I’m doomed to be possessed, By title, marriage, silk, and dress, Then let me choose my wicked fun— Spend me young before I’m done. [Verse 2, sensual, restless, a little darker] I learned the steps, the noble game, How every kiss is debt by name, How mothers trade in polished grins, And fathers hide their knives as pins. Then Silkshade smiled like trouble dressed In stolen shadow, half undressed, And every velvet room I knew Suddenly felt old, and small, and blue. She spends my coin, I know it well, And drags me laughing straight through hell, But at least with her the pulse is true, And every bad idea feels new. [Pre-Chorus, more urgent, breathless] No proper hymn, No wedding bell, Just music, smoke, And the thrill of falling well. [Chorus, stronger, brighter, dangerous] Spend me young, spend me bright, Burn my name into the night, Let me laugh where good girls don’t, Let me dance where angels won’t. If I’m doomed to be possessed, By title, marriage, silk, and dress, Then let me choose my wicked fun— Spend me young before I’m done. [Bridge, dreamy, vulnerable, emotional] Sometimes when the candles drown, And all the painted faces blur, I feel the cage around my crown, I hear the future call me “her.” A fine young thing, a careful bride, A lovely hand, a quieter life, But I would rather lose my breath Than slowly fade while dressed in white. [Breakdown, whispered, intimate] So take me where the floorboards shake, Where names are false and hearts awake, Where scandal tastes like summer wine, And for one more night— My life is mine. [Final Chorus, huge, dramatic, singalong] Spend me young, spend me wild, Spoiled darling, midnight child, Let me shine where saints would choke, Let me bloom in ash and smoke. If the dawn will claim me yet, Then let it find me laughing, wrecked, With red on my lips and fire in my lungs— Spend me young, spend me young. [Outro, soft, smiling, fading] I was never born to wait. I was born To arrive too late, Too pretty, Too reckless, Too alive.
