(Intro) (Soft vocal hums over fingerpicked acoustic guitar) Hmm... mm-mm... (Verse 1) Morning finds you soft as rain Tracing circles on my hand No kings, no audience in sight Just us, for a second in the light Then the room starts talking Your laugh turns with the crowd Every joke gets sharper Every smile gets loud The spotlight finds you, and I’m just scenery on the floor I don't know when I stopped being your lover And started being background score (Pre-Chorus) So I keep talking, anything, everything Sparks of chatter to cover the chest static Paying a tax I never said yes to Drowning in the noise, trapped in the automatic (Hard silence / Beat drop) (Chorus) Why isn't my heart enough for this room? Why does love turn into a test? (Ooh...) Every time you look away, the paper crown slides down Over your eyes, hiding what's left You hear the applause, but I’m still standing here— Like I was never meant to be real (Verse 2) You speak around me, over me, straight through my skin Like I’m a story you already know how to end I laugh right on cue, hit every line you write But every cheer makes me shrink into the night The worst part isn't the stage or the lies— It’s that acting feels safer than looking in your eyes (Pre-Chorus) So I keep smiling, keeping time, keeping quiet Building walls of words where honesty should stand Trading tenderness for noise Trading closeness for one more hand (Chorus) Why isn't my heart enough for this room? Why does love turn into a test? (Ooh...) Every time you look away, the paper crown slides down Over your eyes, hiding what's left You hear the applause, but I’m still standing here— Like I was never meant to be real! (Yeah, ah!) (Bridge) (Heavy power chords & driving backbeat) You keep collecting moments that'll rot by morning! I’m still carrying them like a bruise! You buy your glory from a hollow crowd While I pay the debt I never chose! (Outro) (Instrumentation drops out; dry isolated vocal) The paper crown falls easy. The silence doesn't. My heart was never trying to win the room... It only wanted you. Keep the paper crown, keep the applause I’m stepping off the stage If you want to find me I’ll be the woman who stopped performing No stage, no lights Just the quiet hum of the world turning And me... Finally just me. Free. (Soft vocalizations and guitar fade) Mm-mm... ah...
