[Intro] [Verse 1] Grandmother left her in a box marked "keep" Glass eyes closed like she was just asleep Porcelain skin, painted smile so neat Sweet as sugar, cold as a winter sheet I should've known that smile was rehearsed A pretty little lie in a lace-trimmed curse She's been waiting in the attic, patient as the dust Collecting years like interest, collecting my trust [Pre-Chorus] Now the floorboards creak in three-quarter time Like she's dancing to a nursery rhyme I hear her joints click, clockwork and bone Winding herself up when I'm alone [Chorus] She's a hand-me-down haunting, a family affair A porcelain promise nobody could repair Painted-on lips but she's screaming inside An heirloom with a hunger she can no longer hide Round and round on her painted-on feet Dancing me down to my last heartbeat She's not a doll, she's a debt come due And grandmother, darling, what did you do [Verse 2] She used to sit so still on the shelf Now she tilts her head like she's testing herself Her painted-on smile has started to bend Turns out "family heirloom" was code for "the end" I asked my mother why she gave her away She said "she skipped a generation, dear, that's how she stayed." Now I'm counting cracks in her porcelain face Each one a stitch in this house's disgrace [Pre-Chorus] The music box is playing but I never wound the key Every note's a warning aimed straight at me She's counting down in quarter-notes and lace Waltzing closer with her doll's-eye gaze [Chorus] She's a hand-me-down haunting, a family affair A porcelain promise nobody could repair Painted-on lips but she's screaming inside An heirloom with a hunger she can no longer hide Round and round on her painted-on feet Dancing me down to my last heartbeat She's not a doll, she's a debt come due And grandmother, darling, what did you do? Round and round on her painted-on feet Dancing me down to my last heartbeat She's not a doll, she's a debt come due And grandmother, darling — I'm becoming her too [Outro]
