Paper‑Skin Words

Lyrics

Verse 1
They laugh in the hallway
Hurt sticks like gum on my shoe
Every mirror in this house
Sounds just like you

Pull my sweater over my shape
Hold my breath
Try to be small
If I disappear enough
Will you stop at all?

Chorus
Why do your paper-skin words
Cut me wide open?
You toss them like nothing
But I carry every one
"Fat" on my locker
"Ugly" carved in my mind
I don't know how to live with this
I don't know how to be fine

Verse 2
Phone lights up in the dark
New joke
Same bruise
Scroll until my eyes burn
Still I can't look away from the abuse

Mama says they're just cruel
"Baby
Don't let it in"
But it echoes in my head
Like it's under my skin (oh)

Chorus
Why do your paper-skin words
Cut me wide open?
You toss them like nothing
But I carry every one
"Fat" on my locker
"Ugly" carved in my mind
I don't know how to live with this
I don't know how to be fine

Bridge
Tell me
If I fade to nothing
Would you finally be kind?
If I vanish from this photo
Would you even notice I'm not inside?

Chorus
Why do your paper-skin words
Still cut me open?
You said them in seconds
I've held them for years
"Fat" in the bathroom stall
"Ugly" behind my eyes
I'm so tired of breaking for you
I'm so tired of hating my life