Sick puppy

(Verse 1)

He’s a sick puppy, (whisper under main vocal on “sick puppy”)

he’ll crash into you

and leave you ruminating.

He’s a mad hatter

caught in his own disaster. (light echo on “disaster”)

Take bites of me, baby, *(echo “bites of me”)

take strikes at me, baby,

I can take it —

this is nothing.

How lucky you are

I’m not a weaker woman,

’cause you’re a sick puppy. *(whisper repeat: “sick puppy… sick puppy…”)

(Pre-Chorus)

How I wish you’d run away with me, *(soft echo on “run away”)

we could be free of your folly,

but we’re caught

in the hypnosis of your suffering, *(echo on “hypnosis”)

the quiet hypocrisy

of how this could be

the death of me. *(whisper fade “death… of me…”)

(Chorus (Hook))

He’s a sick puppy, *(drop to whisper first line, echo on “sick puppy”)

come on baby, take a bite of me. *(scream / layered backing vocal “bite of me!”)

I can take it,

I can take it —

does that make me worth loving?

My, my,

what pretty teeth you have,

my sick little puppy. *(whisper echo on “my sick little puppy…”)

I can take it,

I can take it —

does that make me worth loving?

(Verse 2)

We can’t choose who we love. *(light echo on “who we love”)

Do bad owners create aggressive dogs,

or do bad owners give up on them? *(whisper “give up…”)

I can’t let go

of all the things we could be.

Run away with me

so we can heal from our own folly,

before the hunger turns into something better, *(echo “something better…”)

the life we could have

fades into nothing. *(whisper fade: “fades into nothing…”)

(Bridge / Pre-Final Chorus)

He’s not changing, baby, *(drop to whisper with echo)

you should know by now —

he’s one sick puppy. (layered scream / whisper “sick puppy!”)

I’ll keep you

even if it means my own suffering. *(echo “own suffering…”)

Holding your leash

while you bare your teeth at me —

tell me,

does that make me worth loving? *(whisper repeat “worth loving… worth loving…”)

(Final Chorus (Lift))

He’s a sick puppy, *(shout first line, then echo underlay)

come on baby, take a bite of me. *(layered scream / backing vocal echo “bite of me!”)

I can take it,

I can take it —

does that make me worth loving?

My, my,

what pretty teeth you have,

my sick little puppy. *(whisper + echo overlay)

I can take it,

I can take it —

does that make me worth loving? *(echo last “loving… loving…”)

(Outro)

Boy, you’re a sick puppy… *(whisper echo repeat fades)

and I’m still asking

if loving you

makes me worth loving. (final whispered “worth loving…” trailing off)