Paper-Cut Halo

[Verse 1]
You called it "tough love"
I called it bruises on my name
Backhanded blessings
Every joke a little flame
At the table
I was laughing
Inside
I was counting scars
Every favor felt like shackles
Every hug another bar
[Chorus]
So I cut your paper-cut halo
Let the cardboard glory fall
All your "family
" all your "friends"
Just an echo in the hall
You were chains dressed up as angels
Now I wear my own damn crown
I was dying in your circle
So I burned it to the ground
[Verse 2]
She swore forever
With her fingers crossed behind my spine
Said I was her only
While she practiced every line
You loved the broken version
Kept me small to fit your frame
Fed me doubts like dinner
Then you laughed and called it "game"
[Chorus]
So I cut your paper-cut halo
Let the cardboard glory fall
All your "family
" all your "friends"
Just an echo in the hall
You were chains dressed up as angels
Now I wear my own damn crown
I was dying in your circle
So I burned it to the ground
[Bridge]
I’m not your secret shame
Not your loyal little sin (hey!)
You don’t get to spell my future
With the letters of your whims
I walked out of the fire
Smelling like tomorrow’s storm
You will choke on all your stories
When you see what I’ve become
[Chorus]
Yeah
I cut your paper-cut halo
Let the cardboard glory fall
All your "family
" all your "friends"
Just an echo in the hall
You were chains dressed up as angels
Now I wear my own damn crown
I was dying in your circle
So I tore your altar down
[Outro]
Raise a glass to the silence
To the distance
Clean and wild
If blood means always bleeding
Then I’d rather stay exiled

metal, High-energy progressive power metal with male vocals; twin-guitar harmonies over galloping double-kick, syncopated riffs with odd-meter breaks in the verses, soaring anthemic chorus with stacked vocals, brief halftime stomp in the bridge, and a climactic key-change outro., power metal