Smile Through The Carnage
Lyrics
Intro — The Curtain Opens
[Music box playing out of tune… distantcrowd cheering…]
Heh… heh… heh…
Ladies and gentlemen…
Welcome to the show.
Where the tears look funny, And the dead don't know.
Half my face in heaven, Half my soul below…
And if you came to see me break—
BABY, ENJOY THE SHOW.
Maniacal laughter → beat drops
Verse 1 — Two Sides, One Monster
Half white, half black, got a split in my disguise, One side tells the truth, the other side just lies. Painted-on grin with the devil in my eyes, I could watch the whole world burn and stillwave at the sky.
Step into my circus, watch the elephants bleed, Everybody wants a show, everybody wants a freak. Got a knife in my thoughts, got a laugh when I speak, And a heart so fucking frozen it don't beat tothe beat.
I put tragedy in makeup, turn the pain into a dance, Give the reaper two tickets, tell him, "Comeand take a chance." Every nightmare's entertainment, everyfuneral's romance, While the whole world loses balance, I'm stillclapping with my hands.
They say, "Why you always smiling? Ain't youever gonna crack?" I got a thousand different faces, none of themlooking back. White side says I'm innocent, black side dressedin black, And the mask became my home—I don't knowhow to take it back.
Hook — Everybody Loves a Clown
HA-HA-HA! LET THE CIRCUS BEGIN! White on my face, black where the darkness gets in. Blood on the curtains, got a permanent grin, If the whole world dies, I'm still laughing again.
SMILE! SMILE! WHILE THE WHOLE THING BURNS! Watch the wheel keep spinning while the wholeworld turns. Got a heart full of ashes, got a soul that won't learn, I'm the king of this circus—LET THE FUCKINGTENT BURN!
Ha-ha-ha… can you hear that sound? That's the sound of another lost soul in the crowd. Everybody wants the Joker till the lights go down— Then they see what's underneath when I takeoff the crown.
Verse 2 — The Man Behind the Paint
I don't cry, I improvise, turn my suffering to theater, Every scar another prop, every stranger's justa feature. I'm the preacher and the creature, I'm the butcherand the speaker, Got a smile from ear to ear, but the devil'sgetting deeper.
Life's a fucking punchline, death's the final act, Every promise that you gave me was a knifestuck in my back. Now I juggle all my memories like grenadesabout to crack, Throw a little gasoline and watch the audience react.
I can laugh at my reflection, I can grin into the grave, I can dance beside disaster like I'm bornto misbehave. You can lock me in a coffin, you can bury mein chains, I'll come tap-dancing through the dirt withthat smile upon my face.
But there's something in the mirror that I neverlet you see, A little boy beneath the paint screaming, "Setme free!" So I drown him in the laughter, let the wholedamn circus scream, 'Cause the Joker's just a nightmare that forgothow to dream.
Bridge — The Smile Starts Cracking
[Beat cuts out. Slow heartbeat. Whisperedvocals pan left and right.]
White…
Black…
Which one of these faces is the one I lack?
Smile…
Crack…
Can't tell the mask from the man in black.
They laugh when I laugh. They clap when I bleed. They love the damn monster…
But nobody loves me.
Silence for two beats
Heh…
Did I ruin the show?
Final Hook — Burn the Big Top
HA-HA-HA! LET THE CIRCUS COLLAPSE! Half-white face staring through the cracks. Half-black soul with a heart full of ash, I'm the joke you can't forget when the lights go black.
SMILE! SMILE! HEAR THE MADMAN SING! Got a death-bell choir and a rusted ring. Everybody wants a king till the king wants everything, Now the Joker takes a bow while the brokenrafters swing.
Ha-ha-ha… let the whole world drown, Paint a grin on the moon, put a mask on the town. There's a million fucking clowns, but I'm theone they crown—
THE SHOW NEVER ENDS WHEN THEJOKER'S AROUND.
Outro — One Last Laugh
[Distant applause. Music box slows and detunes.]
The white is the lie…
The black is the truth…
Or maybe they're both just the things I do.
A slow, unsettling chuckle
You still smiling?
Good.
Now you understand the fucking joke.