Poor Playground Pinocchio

(Intro)

There’s a little boy crying behind the gym

Trying hard not to let the other kids see him

Holding his breath so the tears don’t show

Little painted puppet boy nobody knows

Wishing on stars from the back of a car

Mama says someday they won’t be this hard

But every cruel word and every hard shove

Turns a little more of his small heart to wood

(Verse 1)

Hand-me-down sneakers, thrift store jeans

Trying to wash up in a gas station sink

Kids in the hallway got sharp little smiles

Cutting him down just to pass the time

They laugh at the way that his old clothes fit

Laugh when he blushes and stammers a bit

Pretty little girls roll their eyes and grin

While he stands there wishing he could crawl out his skin

So he carries their books

Does whatever they say

Lets them pull all his strings

Just to feel okay

(Pre-Chorus)

And every time somebody asks if he’s alright

He says, “Yeah I’m fine” while another ring grows inside

(Hook / Chorus)

Poor playground Pinocchio

Wishing so hard to be a real boy

Praying every night somebody might finally understand

While his little wooden heart keeps hardening again

But what he never saw through all the pain and shame

Was he was already real in all the ways that mattered anyway

Because even made of splinters, bark, and scars from love destroyed

His wooden heart still held more love than theirs ever could, little boy

(Verse 2)

Backseat bedroom underneath parking lot lights

Listening to Mama cry softly at night

He tells her, “Mama, everything’s okay”

Even when his own heart’s fading away

At school they dare him to bark like a dog

Anything cruel just to get a laugh

Then one girl smiles and he starts to shake

Trips on his own words trying to speak her name

Wood don’t bruise

Wood gets quiet when the world gets mean

(Bridge)

Funny thing is if they knew his nights

Knew how hard he fought just to survive

He never would’ve treated them this way

Not for a second, not a single day

They looked like real children standing there in the sun

But the lonely puppet boy they pushed around

Had the only truly human heart they’d found

(Final Chorus)

Poor playground Pinocchio

Spent his whole life begging heaven to be real

Never knowing kindness was the proof inside him all along

And every lie of “I’m okay” made his small heart more wood

But even carved from hurt and loneliness and dreams destroyed

That little wooden heart still loved deeper than theirs ever could, little boy

(Outro)

So if you see a child laughing while his eyes look sad

Be careful with his fragile heart

You don’t know how close to breaking that poor boy already is

And somewhere tonight beneath the stars above

Poor playground Pinocchio is still learning

That being real was always about being able to love