Girl in the Lens

(Verse 1)

(Music: A slow, finger-picked acoustic guitar, minor key)

I saw you in the morning light, glasses on your face

Holding onto new life in a quiet, holy place.

You looked like peace, you looked like home, you looked like you belonged

But the silence got too heavy, and the shadows got too long.

You traded in the cradle for the camera and the flash upon your face

You traded in the diamond for the momentary crash.

(Chorus)

(Music: Cello or deep bass swells—sad and heavy)

You’re a thousand different women, but I can’t find the one

Who isn’t playing characters underneath the sun.

You chase the rush, you chase the high, you chase the lens’s gleam

‘Cause if no one’s watching you, are you really seen?

Oh, the Mother and the Siren, fighting for the skin

But the girl inside the mirror... she never finds the win.

(Verse 2)

(Music: Drums kick in—a slow, plodding rhythm)

I’ve seen the ink upon your skin, the stories written there

A map of all the chaos that you’re desperate to share.

I’ve looked in your eyes as you were screaming out the names,

But you weren’t looking at me, girl... you were looking at the frame of your desire.

You’re addicted to the voltage, you’re drunk on your past.

You burn the house down just to keep the quietness away.

(Bridge)

(Music: Builds intensity—gravel in the voice)

I offered you a Fortress. I offered you a Stone.

I offered you a Sanctuary where you’d never be alone.

But Stone is still, and Stone is hard, and Stone don’t give a show

And you need the hurricane just to feel the blow.

You ran from safety screaming, like it was a cage of fire,

To dance upon the razor’s edge of validation of your past desires.

(Guitar Solo)

(A weeping, bluesy slide guitar solo—mournful and jagged)

(Chorus)

(Music: Full volume, painful realization)

Yeah, you’re a thousand different women, and I loved every one

But the show is finally over, and the damage is all done.

You chase the rush, you chase the high, you chase the lens’s gleam

‘Cause if no one’s watching you, are you really seen?

No... if no one's watching you... you’re just a ghost inside a dream.

(Outro)

(Music: Fades back to the single acoustic guitar)

So keep your pictures, darlin'. Keep your jagged little play upon your knees girl you’re to eager to please.

The Wolf is walking away...

I’m done with the performance.

I’m done with the disguise.

(Spoken whisper)

I just miss the girl who used to be behind those eyes..

(Final chord rings out into silence)

(Male)