I WEAR THE CROWN BUT IT AIN'T MINE!

They're still clapping but I can't hear them anymore

I walk on stage and the lights eat me alive Ten thousand hands Ten thousand mouths All screaming my name like a prayer And I smile I always smile Cause if I stop smiling they'll see the cracks They built me a throne out of glass and gold Told me sit Shine Don't bleed on the carpet So I learned to bleed quietly Behind the curtain Behind the contract Behind the smile that ain't mine anymore

And the worst part ain't the noise Ain't the cameras Ain't the lies It's coming home and not remembering who I was before the lights

I wear the crown but it ain't mine I built a kingdom just to hide inside And when the lights go down I'm just a man in an empty room Talking to the mirror Saying I still see you, love

You know what's heavy? Not the crown The silence after the applause