[Intro — brief sliding guitar phrase; deep bass enters] [Low sung lead] Look at me now. [Verse 1 — warm chest voice; spacious, fully sung] I used to want a little more. Then a little wasn’t much. Started watching what they had. Stopped seeing what I loved. Bought the things I used to laugh at. Learned the names I couldn’t say. When somebody said, “You’re doing good,” I let ’em think I was okay. [Pre-Chorus — melody rises; guitar falls silent] Didn’t ask if I could pay. Just what they’d think of me. Funny how I got so much and felt so underneath. [Chorus — open upper mix; long vowels, space between phrases] Look at me now. Ain’t you proud? Everybody thinks I made it. I just let ’em think it. Look at me now. Don’t look too close. I wanted you to want my life. Now I don’t want my own. [Instrumental answer — one aching guitar bend; bass carries the turnaround] [Verse 2 — bass and drums; restrained melodic tension] I could clap when they were winning. Couldn’t mean it like before. I’d be smiling in the picture, going home and wanting more. Started letting calls go quiet. Didn’t know what I would say. I could show you what I’d bought. Couldn’t tell you how I’d pay. [Pre-Chorus — Rhodes returns; tender register lift] And the ones I tried to look like— maybe they were tired, too. I never asked them how they felt. Just where they got those shoes. [Chorus — fuller melody; selective low self-harmony] Look at me now. Ain’t you proud? Everybody thinks I made it. I just let ’em think it. Look at me now. Don’t look too close. I wanted you to want my life. Now I don’t want my own. [Bridge — exposed sung lead and muted Rhodes] I miss saying, “I can’t afford it,” and still sleeping fine. Miss being happy for somebody without asking, “Where’s mine?” I don’t need you feeling sorry. I’ve been pretending long enough. Ask me how I’m really doing. Let me tell you for once. [Brief silence; deep bass leads the return] [Final Chorus — emotional upper mix; one falsetto peak] Look at me now. No, really now. Everybody thinks I made it. I’m tired of letting ’em think it. Look at me now. You can look close. I wanted you to want my life. I want it back for my own. [Outro — quiet chest voice; guitar waits until after the last line] Still got things I’m paying for. Still got some letting go. But ask me how I’m doing. I’ll tell you what I know. [Single guitar answer; bass note fades]
