[Verse 1]
Painted grin
Cracking at the edges
Cheap crown
Tilting on my head
Every joke
Is a loaded weapon
But they clap
So I reload instead
Cardboard throne
Stapled to the spotlight
I bow
Till my vertebrae ache
You want fun
I serve it on a platter
While my fingers
Shake and shake
[Chorus]
I am the jester with a porcelain smile
Bleeding through the teeth the whole damn while
Make you laugh as I’m losing my mind
Claws in my brain I can’t rewind
I am the jester, hear the circus cheer
Drowning out the voices screaming in my ear
[Verse 2]
Rust red
On the back of the curtains
Glass eyes
In the front row stare
Every gag
Is a nervous sermon
Every laugh
Just thins the air
I choke
On confetti and secrets
Sharp edges
Hidden in the cake
Punch lines
Stitched into my rib cage
If they burst
What will break?
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
[low vocal register]
Who am I
When the makeup’s melting?
When the mask slides off
And the crowd stops yelling?
If I drop this grin
Will the world go silent?
Or will I?
[spoken, unhinged]
I can’t tell if I’m the show
Or the sacrifice on the center row
[crescendo]
Laughter like lighters in a gasoline sea
If I burn alive, will they cheer for me?
Every “are you okay?” sounds so obscene
While I’m nailed to this hellish scene
[Chorus]