[Intro – low, amused, smoky, with a little laugh] Ahh... Bon. Come closer, mon cher. You smell of money... and bad decisions. [Verse 1 – playful, silky, arrogant] I sell silk dreams in a silver case, A wicked little smile on my pretty face, One for the duchess, one for the thief, One for the man who can’t bear grief. A drop for sleep, a line for light, A powder to make you adore the night, A kiss of green in a crystal vial, Take two, chéri, and stay a while. I know what the rich boys beg to feel, And what the gutter rats call real, I dress up hunger in velvet black, Take all their coin and never look back. [Pre-Chorus – teasing, catlike, amused] Left hand to the nobles, right hand to the knives, I feed both sides of these darling lives, And when they ask who owns the game— I laugh, ma belle... I own the flame. [Chorus – big, decadent, deliciously smug] Perfect little vice, oui, that is me, Gold in the pocket, smoke in the lungs, all eyes on me. I sell delight, I sell decay, I make the night behave my way. Perfect little vice, mon dieu, what bliss, A taste for the rich and a gutter kiss. I drink their need, I charm, I slice, And everybody pays for paradise. [Verse 2 – more swagger, more bite] The Bluecoat captain wants calm in a cup, The Silkshore bride wants heat turned up, A noble boy wants fear to drown, A butcher wants a rival down. I make them purr, I make them shake, I know exactly what they take, A clever girl with a chemist’s grace, And no one sees the cracks in lace. You call me decadent—bon, maybe true, But darling, what would this city do Without my little velvet sins To oil the bones beneath the skin? [Pre-Chorus – smug, darker edge now] I kiss the saints, I toast the crooks, I read whole lives by twitching looks, And every room I glide inside Opens up, petit... like silk untied. [Chorus – stronger, sly, more feverish] Perfect little vice, oui, that is me, Gold in the pocket, smoke in the lungs, all eyes on me. I sell delight, I sell decay, I make the night behave my way. Perfect little vice, mon dieu, what bliss, A taste for the rich and a gutter kiss. I drink their need, I charm, I slice, And everybody pays for paradise. [Bridge – lower, slower, voice thinning, first crack in the mask] But... what a thing, non? How perfection bites. One drop to brighten. One more to glow. One more to smooth what they must not know. A little for sparkle. A little for grace. A little to keep the dead from my face. Merde... One more to dance. One more to grin. One more to keep the dark tucked in. [Breakdown – darker, pulse weakening, half-sung, half-confessed] Because when the candles go low... When the last mon cher goes home... When the velvet is only cloth And the perfume turns to sweat... I am not laughter then. I am not silk. I am not splendid little poison in heels. I am teeth ache. Jaw tight. Eyes wide. Hands cold. Spit on the cushion. Pulse gone wrong. Body saying no When the smile says encore. [Verse 3 – cracked glamour, sad and ugly truth] I’ve woken up with drool on my chin, Still in my jewels, still dressed in sin, Face gone blank and the pupils blown, No applause, no touch, no one at home. My lovely nerves all pulled too thin, My perfect voice a rasp within, The room still smells like amber smoke, But I can’t tell if I danced or broke. I pour a glass with a trembling hand, Tell my bones to understand: If I stop shining, I disappear. So I swallow another year. [Final Chorus – huge, tragic, desperate under the swagger] Perfect little vice, oui, that is me, Gold in the pocket, smoke in the lungs, all eyes on me. I sell delight, I sell decay, I make the night behave my way. Perfect little vice—mon dieu, what cost, A queen in the velvet, a body half lost. I drink their need, I grin, I slice, Then choke alone on paradise. [Outro – intimate, exhausted, almost whispering] Come closer, chéri... No, closer than that. Do you still want the dream If I tell you what it weighs? Bon. I thought so. Then pay me. And smile.
