Red Velvet Gums Intro [Soft stride piano vamp. Murmuring room, glasses clink. Trumpet whispers in the distance.] [Spoken, low and smoky] Now baby, this ain’t just another sad little torch tune… [Brief pause] This one’s comin’ in sharp, like a razor in velvet. [Band slips into groove] Somethin’ creepin’ when I exhale, every breath a little sting, Somethin’ hidin’ in my smile, waitin’ on a chance to swing. Verse 1 ’Cause I been itchin’, yeah, I’m split at all the seams, And you just catch me slow-burn seethin’ at the thought of what we could mean. I keep bitin’ on my tongue till it blossoms, bleeds in the heat, And you say I’m sugar-sweet, but you ain’t seen beneath my teeth. Pre-Chorus When nobody sees you teasin’, ’cause you tuck it underneath, All honey on the surface, little razors in your teeth. And I keep touchin’ where it throbs just to prove I still can feel, If growin’ up means growin’ fangs, tell me which of me is real. Chorus Red velvet gums, Make you think about your mums. Back when love was milk and warmth and nobody had to run, Before that velvet started split and all the little teeth had come. Red velvet gums, Now the little teeth have come. If I sink ’em into somethin’ just to see what I become, Will I know my own reflection when the growin’ up is done? Verse 2 You keep smilin’ like you own me, like you read me, page by page, But there’s back rooms in my body I ain’t showin’ on no stage. There’s a tenderness in hunger, there’s a violence in restraint, I can dolly up my danger, make a halo out of ache. And you keep leanin’ in the doorway, neither leavin’ nor come in, While I hate the way I crave you, want your fingers ’neath my chin. Pre-Chorus ’Cause nobody sees you teasin’ when you hide it underneath, You can dress it up as innocent while sharpenin’ your teeth. And I keep dreamin’ of that woman I could be beneath your hands, Neither baby, neither monster, just somebody who demands. Chorus Red velvet gums, Make you think about your mums. Back when love was milk and warmth and nobody had to run, Before that velvet started split and all the little teeth had come. Red velvet gums, Now the little teeth have come. If I sink ’em into somethin’ just to see what I become, Will I know my own reflection when the growin’ up is done? Bridge Maybe wantin’ is the wound and maybe wantin’ is the tooth, Maybe every little heartache is the body speakin’ truth. I don’t want your holy water, I don’t want you scrubbin’ me clean, I just wanna quit imaginin’ all these midnight in-betweens. Final Chorus Red velvet gums, Look at what I’ve become. All that velvet had to split before somethin’ sharper could come, You were waitin’ on the warnin’ while I waited to become. Don’t you rock me like a baby, don’t you break me like a beast, I been teething, tearing, seething— [Band hits a stop-time accent] Now my teeth are finally free. Outro [Bare vocal over soft, low piano chord and fading horn sigh] You wanted what lived underneath. Now take a look at me.
