The Scream Behind the Smile (v.2)

(Verse 1)
I paint my armor on at dawn
With steady hands and lipstick red
Another battlefield to mourn
Another version of me dead
They want a smile without the ache
A softer voice, a smaller space
But every compromise I make
Just draws the shadows on my face

(Chorus)
I am the scream behind the smile
Running every endless mile
Trying to make it all worthwhile
In this wild and anxious youth
I hold the world and feel the weight
Questioning my own fate
Learning much too late
In this wild and anxious youth

(Verse 2)
I walk the tightrope in high heels
Between the mother and the dream
The silent panic no one feels
The constant tearing at the seam
I love too hard, I fight too much
I second-guess my own two hands
Afraid that if I lose my touch
I'll vanish into sinking sands

(Chorus)
I am the scream behind the smile
Running every endless mile
Trying to make it all worthwhile
In this wild and anxious youth
I hold the world and feel the weight
Questioning my own fate
Learning much too late
In this wild and anxious youth

(Bridge)
But somewhere in the static noise
I hear a sound that's truly mine
The fury and the fragile poise
The right to draw my own bottom line
I'm done with being who they want
I'm done with bleeding to be soft
I'll take the fire, I'll take the front
And watch them as they look aloft

(Final Chorus)
I am the fire and the rain
The pleasure and the endless pain
I'll burn it down to start again
Beyond this wild and anxious youth
I'll take my armor, keep my scars
I'll learn to navigate the stars
I am exactly who we are
In this wild and anxious youth

(Outro)
The dawn arrives, my armor bright...
My lipstick red, my soul in flight...
I faced the shadows, won the fight...
In this anxious youth...
Tonight.