Smiling through the static

((TITLE: Smile Through Static))

((GENRE: Alternative K-Pop, Contemporary R&B, Future Pop))

((MOOD: Melancholic, Confident, Cathartic, Late-Night))

((TEMPO: 112 BPM))

((KEY: F# Minor))

((VOCALS: Smooth Male Lead, Breathy Harmonies, Layered Falsetto, Rhythmic Ad-libs))

((PRODUCTION: Warm bass, airy synth pads, crisp percussion, ambient vocal chops, atmospheric reverb))

((THEMES: Burnout, Emotional Exhaustion, Letting Go, Quiet Strength))

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((Soft synth swell))

((Filtered vocal chops))

((Minimal kick))

Yeah...

I've been carrying too much...

Still smiling...

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Morning comes, another mask to wear,

Same old faces, pretending that they care.

Every promise fades when the lights burn low,

Funny how the truth is the first to go.

Everybody's got a script for my life,

Tell me who to be, tell me what is right.

Fake love dressed in expensive clothes,

Leaves the deepest cuts that nobody knows.

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((Pads open))

((Layered harmonies))

I'm tired...

Of chasing what was never mine.

I'm done...

Letting somebody else define my sky.

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((Full production))

I smile through the static,

Even when my world's dramatic.

Heart running on automatic,

But I'm still moving.

Burnt out...

Can't hide it now.

Still I dance when the ceiling falls,

Still I stand when they want me small.

If tomorrow breaks apart,

I'll still carry this beating heart.

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Everybody talks when the room gets loud,

Disappear the second storms roll around.

Some call themselves family,

Some call themselves friends—

Funny how they're gone

When the silence begins.

I've been pouring oceans into empty hands,

Trying to save people

Who don't understand.

Now I'm learning...

Peace isn't something

You beg to keep.

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((Percussion strips back))

Maybe letting go

Is another way to breathe.

Maybe loving myself

Starts with finally leaving.

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((Airy vocal repeats))

Smile...

Smile through it all...

Keep moving...

Keep moving...

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((Half-time drums))

((Dreamlike atmosphere))

If every scar becomes another constellation,

Maybe every ending starts a new creation.

I'll wear these nights

Like stars beneath my skin.

This isn't where I lose...

This is where I begin.

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((Huge layered harmonies))

I smile through the static,

Even when the world's chaotic.

No more living just to satisfy

Somebody else's expectations.

The weight is heavy,

But my soul is steady.

You can keep your empty conversations,

Your fake love,

Your false foundations.

I'm walking forward...

With nothing left to prove.

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((Synths slowly fade))

((Soft falsetto))

If they never understand...

That's alright.

I finally found

The only smile

That had to be real.

((Ambient fade))