[INTRO - "FALSE WITNESS"] "Welcome." "You are witnessing a role." ... Please... "Please remain in character at all times." "You are now becoming what we prepared for you" [VERSE 1 — “ASSIGNED NAME”] I enter already spoken for a silhouette with borrowed breath my mouth moves when the script demands it my silence edited in post-production. They stitched my face from expectation stitched my name from brighter mouths. I am introduced before I arrive and arrival is irrelevant. [PRE-CHORUS — “CUE LIGHTS”] Cue the smile. Cue the fracture. Cue the feeling I was told to have... ... If I deviate— the stage corrects me softly like a hand on my throat made of velvet... [CHORUS — “FALSE OPENING ACT”] I am the false opening act the warm-up for a ghost they already believe in clap when instructed bleed only in approved tones I am not introduced I am performed into existence I am not real— ... I am rehearsed [VERSE 2 — “GLITCH IN THE ROLE”] Something breaks between the lighting cues a flicker where I remember I am watching myself the script stutters my name misfires in the speakers I see the seams in the audience every face a mirror learning how to lie ... I try to step outside the marking tape but the floor redraws itself beneath me [PRE-CHORUS 2 — “FEEDBACK LOOP”] Say it correctly say it correctly say it— [(buzz)] ... I am learning to speak in distortion I am learning to survive the correction [CHORUS — “FALSE OPENING ACT”] I am the false opening act a placeholder for something never arriving clap when instructed love what is assigned I am not erased— I am replaced in real time I am not real— I am rehearsed [BREAKDOWN — “SYSTEM FAILURE PERFORMANCE”] ...huh—... (am I still the role—?) Or am I the voice behind it? ... No script can hold the moment it breaks no applause knows what to do with silence that answers back... ... I am not your opening act anymore I am the interruption [OUTRO — “LIGHTS DON’T CUT”] The stage forgets to end me I remain ... between dimming and dark ... between instruction and breath ... and for the first time— I am not introduced I am here
