BALLERINA, DON’T TAKE A BOW [Verse 1] You learned to smile like it’s stitched to your skin, Pirouette pretty through the ache you’re in. Every applause is a borrowed belief— They clap for the grace, not the girl underneath. You count every step like a prayer you forgot, Spinning in circles you swore you were not. Your shadow knows where the fractures all hide— It limps when you glide. ⸻ [Pre-Chorus] And God, they love you when you disappear— When you become what they came to hear. No pulse, no doubt, no messy truth— Just perfect youth. ⸻ [Chorus] Ballerina, don’t take a bow— They don’t deserve to see you now. You gave them beauty, bled it out, Turned every silence into sound. Ballerina, stay on your toes— Even the truth can break your bones. If they love you, let it be a lie— But don’t you dare let them watch you die. ⸻ [Verse 2] Your ribs play music when you breathe too fast, A metronome built to outlive the past. Mirror says “angel,” your body says “run,” But angels don’t ache when the curtain’s undone. You starve for a version they’d understand— A ghost in a costume, a wave of a hand. But hunger remembers what glory erases: The names and the faces. ⸻ [Pre-Chorus] And God, they need you without a voice— Without the weight of a human choice. They want you light, they want you small— They want it all. ⸻ [Chorus] Ballerina, don’t take a bow— They’d only love you less somehow. You made it holy, made it hurt, Turned fragile bones into something worth Believing in—so don’t come down, Don’t let them see you touch the ground. If grace is just a prettier goodbye— Stay in the air. Don’t say goodbye. ⸻ [Bridge] What if the stage is the only place Where breaking looks like grace? What if the fall is the truest part— The moment they call it art? ⸻ [FINAL CHORUS] Ballerina, don’t take a bow— leave them clapping for a ghost somehow. You gave them grace they couldn’t hold, turned breaking bones into something gold. Ballerina, don’t come down— they only love you weightless now. If falling means they see the truth— don’t give them proof. Stay in the air—don’t give them your last breath. Don’t come down… don’t come down… don’t come down… don’t come— Down. Ballerina… Don’t take a bow.
