[Intro] (low piano, vinyl crackle, soft inhale) Character build… Every loss got logged in the system. [Chorus] Took the clothes, took the jewelry, took the privacy too, Virginity, stage fee, taxes — yeah, they collected the dues. Double shifts, Tuesday daytime, lost hours in the club, Negotiations in the back while I’m counting what’s left of the love. Character build, bitch, every scar got a name, I don’t get it back, I just charge it to the game. No refunds, no returns, just the receipt in my hand, Built this whole persona from the losses I planned. [Verse 1] First it was the dress they said “look prettier in,” Then the necklace that vanished when the night got thin. Privacy gone the second the phone light hit the face, Whole room watching while I’m fixing my own damn lace. Virginity wasn’t a gift, it was a transaction fee, Stage fee on top just to stand where they told me to be. Taxes took a cut before the cash even cleared, Double shift Tuesday and the daytime disappeared. Lost time in the club under sticky red lights, Counting minutes like money that never lasts the night. Negotiations whispered — “just one more, you’ll be fine,” I learned real quick that the house always keeps the best wine. [Chorus] Took the clothes, took the jewelry, took the privacy too, Virginity, stage fee, taxes — yeah, they collected the dues. Double shifts, Tuesday daytime, lost hours in the club, Negotiations in the back while I’m counting what’s left of the love. Character build, bitch, every scar got a name, I don’t get it back, I just charge it to the game. No refunds, no returns, just the receipt in my hand, Built this whole persona from the losses I planned. [Verse 2] Now the mirror don’t lie, it just shows the receipt, Every item they took still living underneath. Clothes I can’t wear, jewelry I can’t find, Privacy I don’t own, body that learned how to grind. Daytime Tuesday shift still sits in my bones, Club hours stacked like unpaid interest loans. They called it “experience,” I called it the cost, Every “yes” I gave was a little more lost. But the character built different when the bill came due, I stopped asking for soft and I started asking for proof. No Cinderella ending, no fairy-tale spin, Just a woman who learned how to weaponize the skin she’s in. [Bridge] (beat strips — 808 heartbeat + distant club noise) Losses on the ledger, ink still wet, Every one of them turned into something I kept. If the world wants a piece, it can line up and wait, I already spent the currency… now I set the rate. [Final Chorus] Took the clothes, took the jewelry, took the privacy too, Virginity, stage fee, taxes — yeah, they collected the dues. Double shifts, Tuesday daytime, lost hours in the club, Negotiations in the back while I’m counting what’s left of the love. Character build, bitch, every scar got a name, I don’t get it back, I just charge it to the game. No refunds, no returns, just the receipt in my hand, Built this whole persona from the losses I planned. [Outro] (fade) Character build… Still standing. (vinyl slowdown)
