[Verse 1]
She lives in a one-room kingdom
Second floor above the laundromat glow
Cheap perfume and cigarette curtains
Watching fairytales through cracked phone glass alone
Every night at midnight hour
Blue light shining on her face
She swipes through castles made of filters
Looking for somebody safe
She says, “Maybe real love don’t happen
For girls covered up in ash”
So she paints her lips and opens apps
Like throwing prayers into the dark
[Pre-Chorus]
And every stranger sounds like heaven
For about three days
Till the cracks come through the picture
And the magic melts away
[Chorus]
She keeps kissing catfish
Trying to turn one into a prince
Trading lonely midnight secrets
For forever that don’t exist
Every silver-tongued Romeo
Says she’s all he’ll ever need
Till there’s rent due, or some emergency
And suddenly love costs money
Oh, pauvre Cendrillon…
She speaks French like an angel sings
But she keeps kissing catfish
Thinking one might be her king
[Verse 2]
One said he was working offshore
Couldn’t video ‘cause the signal died
One was some rich man in Chicago
With movie-star promises in his eyes
Another called her “ma chérie”
Said her voice could heal his scars
He sent her pictures stolen from a stranger
And dreams stolen from her heart
She gives pieces of herself slowly
Like coins into a wishing well
Hoping one day somebody honest
Might finally call and mean it for real
[Pre-Chorus]
But every castle made of pixels
Turns back into dust
And every “baby, you’re my future”
Ends with “I just need some help from us…”
[Chorus]
She keeps kissing catfish
Trying to turn one into a prince
Trading lonely midnight secrets
For forever that don’t exist
Every silver-tongued Romeo
Swears he’s heaven-sent
Till the fairy tale gets hungry
And asks where all her money went
Oh, pauvre Cendrillon…
With tears running black like rain
Still kissing catfish
Just to feel loved for a day
[Bridge]
Maybe somewhere there’s a real man
Who’d hold her ash-covered hands
Without needing magic
Without needing gold
Without making loneliness pay
But tonight another profile’s glowing
And she’s too tired to fight hope again
[Final Chorus]
So she keeps kissing catfish
Watching princes disappear
Every “love forever” fading
The second her pockets clear
Still she whispers “maybe this one…”
Every time her phone lights up
Like Cinderella at midnight
Still believing in love
Oh, pauvre Cendrillon…
The saddest girl you’ll never see
Speaking French like an angel
To ghosts behind a screen
Yeah she keeps kissing catfish
Trying to love her way through pain
But every prince turns back to strangers
By the morning again