A Living, Unfinished Face

[Verse 1]
I sketched the face they said I ought to wear
Measured every angle, held my breath
Then scraped away the crooked little grin
And brushed a blankness over what was left

[Pre-Chorus]
Five notes circling the page
A staircase cut from dusk
I chased the cleanest outline
Till the colors turned to dust

[Chorus]
I paint myself, erase myself
Till no one knows the name
The truest lines were trembling there
Before I hid the flame
I paint myself, erase myself
A careful, empty frame

[Verse 2]
I took the ink-stained thumb, the crooked ear
The laugh that never landed on the beat
I covered every mark that made me mine
And called the pale result complete

[Bridge]
Leave one rough edge
Leave one wrong shade
The hand that shook
Was the hand that made

[Breakdown]
Five notes, one breath
A smudge I won't correct
Five notes, one breath
A face I can accept

[Final Chorus]
I paint myself, but keep the marks
That never fit the frame
The truest lines were trembling there
I won't erase their name
I paint myself, I let it show
A living, unfinished face

[Outro]
A living, unfinished face