[Intro — Close Clean Vocal] Ah-ah... The label said, “Restore.” It never said how far. [Angular Guitar Riff] [Verse 1 — High Harsh Vocal] Found it leaning by the curb, blue paint sleeping in the seams. One drawer sticking, one leg bent, still heavier than anything new. I liked the scratches on the top, the ring a coffee cup had made. Then the videos said, “Strip it clean. The truth is underneath the stain.” So I bought the paper, mask and gloves, lined the floor with plastic sheets. Every scar became a problem. Every layer looked like deceit. [Pre-Chorus — Low Clean Vocal] I said beneath the damage there must be a truer shape. So I kept removing history till the history gave way. [Chorus — Strong Melodic Clean Vocal] RESTORED TO NOTHING! SANDED PAST THE GRAIN! I MADE MYSELF FLAWLESS! I MADE MYSELF FAKE! Ah-ah, every layer falling... Oh-oh, every mark erased... I went looking for the original and threw the proof away. RESTORED TO NOTHING! [Short Melodic Guitar Turn] [Verse 2 — Harsh Vocal] The corners softened into weakness. The veneer thinned beneath my hand. The screen said, “Smooth means finished.” The screen had never lived. Inside the final drawer, beneath a strip of peeling blue: Height marks. Dates. A crooked heart. Somebody’s pencil breaking through. I raised the sander one more time, then saw exactly what I’d learned: I had become so good at fixing, I could make a life look unused. [Pre-Chorus 2 — Clean Vocal] Not every mark is damage. Not every flaw’s decay. Some things look imperfect because somebody chose to stay. [Chorus] RESTORED TO NOTHING! SANDED PAST THE GRAIN! I MADE MYSELF FLAWLESS! I MADE MYSELF FAKE! Ah-ah, every layer falling... Oh-oh, every mark erased... I went looking for the original and threw the proof away. RESTORED TO NOTHING! [Post-Chorus — Close Vocal Doubles] Brand new. No history. Beautiful. Nobody. [Heavy Rhythmic Section — Harsh Vocal] STRIP IT! PRIME IT! MAKE IT CLEAN! REMOVE THE LIFE BEHIND THE SHEEN! CALL IT HEALED! CALL IT NEW! TILL NOTHING LEFT STILL LOOKS LIKE YOU! I MADE MYSELF FLAWLESS! I MADE MYSELF— FAKE! [Instrumental Drop] [Bridge — Intimate Clean Vocal] So I left one drawer unfinished: Blue paint. Names. The stubborn grain. Not a shrine to every injury. Not a reason to love pain. Just one honest piece of evidence no polish could replace: Something lived here long enough to leave a human trace. [Melodic Guitar Lead] [Final Chorus — Expanded Clean Vocal] I WAS RESTORED TO NOTHING! SANDED PAST THE GRAIN! I MADE MYSELF FLAWLESS! I MADE MYSELF FAKE! Ah-ah, leave the old paint showing... Oh-oh, let the surface age... I was never buried under history. I was written in the grain. I don’t need to worship damage. I don’t need to bless the pain. But I’m done calling every living mark a flaw that must be changed. [Outro — Close Clean Vocal] Some marks are not the damage. Some marks are how you know it lived. Ah-ah... Leave the drawer the way it is.
