The Kerosene Angel

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You dress up in plastic and kerosene

And tell yourself a couple diamonds will fix that bump

But now your man is saying you’re too skinny

Oh well, love is overdone

And Hell has enough demons for everyone

 

You indulge in their guilty pleasures

They take you when you’re sixteen

And they love you while you’re seventeen

So you keep wrapping yourself in plastic

And tear down your silver linings

 

What aren’t you sleeping with?

These diamonds will stop falling one day

But the demons can’t get enough of you

Because they love us when we’re young

But when we’re wise, we’re not enough

 

You create an image for yourself

Out of film and skin and more skin

And you tell yourself that someone will light you on fire

But you’re just made of body parts

You’re just a pawn in their spotlight

 

You know they’ll always win

They auction you when you’re eighteen

And they pose you while you’re nineteen

But you keep filling their damn cups

And you drink for the rush

 

What aren’t you breathing in?

You’re blinded by matches and film

While the crows keep eating at your flesh

Because they love us when we’re young

But when we’re wise, we’re not enough

 

You’re every guardian angel’s nightmare

You were once so handsome and limitless

You once told me the world would never end

Whose bridges aren’t you burning?

Why do you make me want to burn?

 

I need to know we’ll find a way

You make me want to die for you

At least then you’ll have another life

You make me want to light you on fire

So bright that the demons will run away

 

You dress up in plastic and kerosene

But I know all you need is to turn twenty

Because by then I’ll be a memory

By then I’ll be your last chance to sing about

And you’ll be every guardian angel’s dream

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