Welcome to the Freak Show

Lyrics

[Intro]
attendance?
nah.
i’ve been absent mentally since ninth grade.

[Verse 1]
twelve years sitting in the back row
same faces, same jokes, same hall
they had a problem when i talked too much
had a problem when i didn’t talk at all

too ambitious, too dramatic
too convinced i’d make it out
funny, everything they hated
looks expensive on me now

i was weird for taking pictures
weird for wanting something more
weird for saying i’d be famous
in a town that loves the floor

they rolled their eyes
i rolled mine harder
guess we all had different plans
they wanted me to act embarrassed
i wanted cameras in my hands

[Pre-Chorus]
call me strange
call me extra
write it down, i’ll make it merch
you spent years trying to humble me
baby, did it work?

[Chorus]
welcome to the freak show
heels up, lights low
everything you made fun of
looks good on a runway though

too much?
perfect.
too weird?
worth it.

you wanted normal
i never learned it

welcome to the freak show
front row, here we go
school made me feel like a monster
fashion said, “we love those.”

so take my picture
get my good side
if i’m such a freak
then why am i your type?

[Verse 2]
i remember every classroom
every lunch break feeling wrong
every time i learned that fitting in
was something i was bad at all along

and i hated those fluorescent lights
hated waking up for that
now i’m getting dressed for bigger rooms
funny little plot twist, that

they wanted quiet
easy
normal
something simple they could place

i wanted acting
music
fashion
somewhere strange could have a face

now they tell me, “shoulders back”
“walk straight”
“don’t look down”
same girl they couldn’t understand
is learning how to own a crowd

[Pre-Chorus]
i’m still dramatic
still obsessive
still dreaming way too big
turns out “too much” only sounds insulting
when you’re somewhere way too small for it

[Chorus]
welcome to the freak show
heels up, lights low
everything you made fun of
looks good on a runway though

too much?
perfect.
too weird?
worth it.

you wanted normal
i never learned it

welcome to the freak show
front row, here we go
school made me feel like a monster
fashion said, “we love those.”

so take my picture
get my good side
if i’m such a freak
then why am i your type?

[Rap / Bridge]
okay, class, let’s review:

talk too much, dream too big
wrong personality, wrong clique
never knew when i should quit
thank God i never learned that shit

twelve years, same old story
“who does she think she’s gonna be?”
i don’t know
check back later
maybe you’ll see me on your screen

i wasn’t cool when i wanted it
now i don’t really care
i spent too long being watched in hallways
to get nervous when they stare

and no, i didn’t glow up for revenge
that gives you way too much credit
i just finally got somewhere
where being different is the aesthetic

[Breakdown]
monster.
weird girl.
too loud.
dreamer.

say it again.
it sounds cuter with a camera shutter.

[Final Chorus]
welcome to the freak show
heels high, let’s go
seventeen centimeters
just to make the height code

too short?
fix it.
too new?
risk it.

first show
first flight
still got picked, didn’t i?

welcome to the freak show
i think i like it here
all the things that made me lonely
look different in the mirror

school tried to teach me
“don’t stand out.”

fashion week said
“that’s literally the point.”

[Outro]
so if i’m the monster
keep the label

i’ve worn worse things to school.