When you tell a girl she's pretty

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When you tell a girl she’s pretty

she’ll paint a smile on her face

so she won’t look in the mirror

and see her life was a waste

When you tell a girl she’s pretty

on compliments she’ll feed

she’ll put them under her skin

to see them when she bleeds

When you tell a girl she’s pretty

it’ll go straight to her hips

so every piece of food

passes twice through her lips

When you tell a girl she’s pretty

through her ear flows a poison

that seeps into her words

before she can voice them

When you tell a girl she’s pretty

it becomes her lifeline

but what happens if that phone

isn’t ringing all the time

When you tell a girl she’s pretty

every girl is a threat

she does it better than her

then it’s her you’ll reject

When you tell a girl she’s pretty

a little part of her dies

the part that reaches upward

and tells her she can fly.

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