Pretty When I Cry

[Verse 1]
You love me in the dark
Where I don’t talk too loud
Where I fold my edges in
So I don’t stand too proud
You say I’m “so dramatic”
When I ask you why
But you only hold me closer
When I’m pretty when I cry

[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, you like your girls in pieces
Soft enough to rearrange
Paint my lips in perfect silence
Keep me framed and out of range

[Chorus]
You say I’m pretty when I cry
Mascara falling just right
Tears catching diamonds in the light
Oh, you love the tragedy
But not the fire in me
You want the hurt without the fight
I’m not your pretty when I cry

[Verse 2]
You flinch when I get louder
When I say what I deserve
Call me “hard to handle”
Just because I’ve got a nerve
You’re comfortable with broken
But not with someone whole
You’d rather fix a fantasy
Than face a woman in control

[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, you like your girls forgiving
With a halo slightly cracked
But heaven doesn’t want me
If I’m shrinking to fit that

[Chorus]
You say I’m pretty when I cry
Mascara falling just right
Tears catching diamonds in the light
Oh, you love the tragedy
But not the fire in me
You want the hurt without the fight
I’m not your pretty when I cry

[Post-Chorus – chanty, rhythmic]
No more sugar-coated lies
No more shrinking to your size
If I’m loud, if I’m wild
I’m still worth your compromise

[Bridge – half spoken, half sung]
I won’t romanticise the damage
Won’t aestheticise the pain
You don’t get to dim my colours
Just to keep your ego safe

(Beat builds, layered harmonies)

If you want me, take the whole thing
Every sharp and every shine
I’m not porcelain perfection
I’m a storm you can’t redesign

[Final Chorus – bigger, stacked harmonies]
You say I’m pretty when I cry
But I’m stunning when I rise
No more diamonds from my eyes
Oh, you can keep the tragedy
I’ll keep the fire in me
Watch me burning in my own spotlight
I’m not your pretty when I cry

[Outro – playful but defiant]
Glossed lips, dry eyes
I look better when I fight.

Bold attitude, emotional bite, pop edge